


an end, but the start of all things that are left to do

by strangethewriter



Category: Shatter Me Series - Tahereh Mafi
Genre: Aaron and Ella AU, F/M, Flashbacks, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mental Health Issues, Non-Graphic Violence, References to Depression, References to anxiety, juliette wasn't taken by the reestalishment and grew up as ella sommers basically, really just an excuse to write a bunch of fluff, warnette-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2020-06-30 01:15:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 45,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19842496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangethewriter/pseuds/strangethewriter
Summary: Aaron & Ella AU."I turn to my side and close my eyes to sleep. I can deal with everything else tomorrow. Right now I just want to shut out the rest of the world, and dream of a white bird with streaks of gold like a crown on top his head as it flies away and leads me to freedom."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there!  
> Just to be clear on some things, I took certain liberties with some canon things of the series. In this fic, Emmaline has telekinetic powers but she doesn't control minds (this is just to make things easier for me), and the timeline of some evens has changed (but you'll see that as this goes on).  
> Also, Juliette/Ella is currently 18, Emma 19 and Warner 20.  
> (work title from Wasteland, Baby! by hozier)  
> anyways happy reading

**ELLA**

I stare down at my gloved hands currently gripping my fork and knife. My meal sits in front of me half-eaten. It went cold a couple of minutes ago. My mother’s voice travels from the kitchen to the dining room but I can’t make up any words. She’s been talking on the phone for a while now. She sounds angry.

It’s a hot day and it’s punishment enough that I’m forced to cover almost every inch of my skin but the leather of my gloves is making my hands sweat. I can’t stand the sensation of it. I slowly start to remove my gloves trying not to draw too much attention to myself. My father, sitting opposite of me and whom, up to this point, had made a fine job at pretending I wasn’t here says “Keep those on, Ella, I’ve told you a thousand times--”

“It’s just us here,” I snap. “I’m not stupid, I’m not going to _hurt_ anyone.”

“ _Ella_ ,” Emmaline warns. She hates when I talk back to our parents. I know it is because she doesn’t want me to get hurt. We are both well acquainted with the consequences of defying our parents, but I can’t help but feel like she’s taking his side. I wish she would defend me. I wish she would have my back, just this once, like we used to when we were young and naive and still hoping that the pain we were going through was only temporary. 

“This is not your fight, Emmaline,” I say. I don’t mean to direct the anger than taints my voice to her but I can’t help it. 

“I’m not discussing this anymore,” my father says slamming the file he had been reading down on the table making both Emmaline and I jump. “You wear them when there’s people around, us included, and that is final.”

Just as he finishes his sentence, my mother comes back from the kitchen and sits back down at the head of the table. She looks impeccable as always with her sharp white suit and perfectly styled short hair. She clears her throat and I notice how she grips her phone so tightly her knuckles go white. 

“Actually, darling,” she says in a calm, furious voice. “You’re going to have to take those off. There’s someone we have to meet.”

I take a deep breath and release it slowly, it comes out shakily. Emmaline shoots glances at me with a mix of worry and pity in her eyes. I pretend I don’t see her. I turn to look at my mother in the eye instead. They may not trust me enough with my power to walk around my own home, my own _family_ , without a protective layer around my skin they say is to protect me, but I know better than that; but they are always eager to exploit my power, exploit me when it benefits them. 

***

**_14 years ago._ **

_“Ready or not here I come!” I call through the silence of the house._

_I run down the hallway as quietly as I can. My pigtails bounce with every step I take, the movement they make makes me laugh and I move my head even more so they fly back and forth. A strand of hair crashes against my eye making me wince._

Right, _i think,_ Emma and Nazeera. I have to find them.

_I hear the hardwood of the floor creak in a room ahead of me and I run towards it. I slam the door open and yell “Got you!”_

_But it’s not Emma or Nazeera, it’s my dad. He’s standing by mom’s desk looking down at pages and pages with numbers and symbols I can’t understand. He looks up to meet my eye and smiles._

_“You sure did,” he says, smiling._

_“Sorry. I thought you were in the lab with mom.”_

_“I was. She asked me to retrieve some notes for her.”_

_“Oh!” I say excited. “Can I help?”_

_“I believe you were looking for someone?”_

_“Oh yeah! Have you seen Emma or Nazeera? We’re playing hide and seek!”_

_“Isn’t it cheating if I told you if I saw them?”_

_“I guess…” I say hesitantly, I don’t want to cheat. I can win without cheating._

_“Go look for them, then.”_

_I sprint out of the room containing a giggle. I look in Emma’s and I bedroom, the guest room and even in my parent’s closet. No sign of them. I walk into the upstairs bathroom and yank the shower curtain open. Still nothing. After checking all the rooms upstairs I make my way down. I look on the living room, the kitchen and even the cupboard and I still can’t find them. They wouldn’t have gone down to the basement. Our parents don’t allow us._

_Just as I’m about to give up I hear giggling coming from the living room._

But I _checked_ there.

_I run back into the living room on my tippitoes. They won’t escape this time._

_“Ow, Emma, your butt is in my hand!” Nazeera whispers._

_I turn to follow the sound. I now notice that the table that the couch which is usually against the wall is moved slightly forward. A space just big enough to hide them. I walk towards the sofa climbing it as slowly and as quietly as I can. I peek behind it and see the girls laying on their sides, a tangle of limbs to fit in the small space. I grin victoriously._

_“Got you!”_

_They both start screeching as they scramble to get up. In their desperate attempt to escape they push the couch suddenly, making me lose my balance and throwing me to the ground. I land with a silent ‘oof’. When I turn to look at them they’re already getting away. I get on my hand and knees as fast as I can. I take a hold on Emmaline ankle making her fall to the ground with me._

_Suddenly my body is warm. My hand is tingling. The laughter is gone from me. I can’t feel anything but this thing that is rushing through my body. It feels_ good. 

_And then_

_And then_

_And then_

_Emmaline starts to scream._

_***_

“So who is this poor bastard you expect me to torture, mother?” I ask.

She huffs without looking up at me. She is sitting on the backseat across from me, reading the report Commander Kumar sent to her shortly after she announced today’s mother-daughter bonding activity. I see the driver stiffen at my words, he grips into the steering wheel a little bit tighter, his dark eyes meet mine for a split second in the rear-view mirror before he looks away frightened. He should be used to this kind of talk by now, especially driving the Supreme Commander of Oceania and her deadly, deadly daughters around everyday. I guess for some people it’s harder to get used to violence. I hope he never does. Once you get used to it you lose. 

“Private Cameron, identification number 413C-67880, 35 years old,” she says mechanically as she flips through the pages of the file. “Some soldiers of sector 413 found him trying to smuggle classified files from the base and he was sent here for interrogation. They believe he might be working for rebel forces.”

“Maybe he was just trying to sell the information for some extra money.”

“Well, darling, that’s what you have to find out.”

***

_She’s screaming. She’s screaming because of me._

_But I’m not doing anything._

_I don’t understand. I want her to stop._

_I try to rip my hand from her body but I can’t. I can’t I can’t I can’t. I don’t want to._

_“Ella!” Nazeera yells through water. “Ella what are you doing? Stop it!”_

I don’t know _I want to say_ I don’t know, I don’t want to it feels good.

_“Ella you’re hurting her!”_

_As suddenly as it came the warmth is gone._

_She pushed me I realize. She pushed me off her because I wouldn’t stop. I wouldn’t stop and I was hurting her._

_Oh God, what have I done?_

_“What’s all this screaming?” my mom says as the runs into the room, still with her lab coat on, my dad trailing close behind her._

_Emmaline is unconscious on the floor. There are tears running down Nazeera’s face. Mine too I realize._

_“What happened?” dad asks as he rushes to Emmaline’s side and pulls her into his arms._

_Mom rushes to her side too and then turns to me._

_“Ella, what happened?”_

_I open my mouth but no words come out. Thieves stole all my words from me._

_She walks on her knees to my side and bring her hands up to my face._

_“Don’t touch her!” Nazeera yells. But she does it too late. My mom’s hands touch my cheeks and as soon as she does that warm feeling is cursing through me again._

_Her face twists in pain and in shock. I fall to the ground to get away from her._

_“Mommy, mommy, what’s happening?” I sob._

_Nazeera is still crying. Emmaline’s eyes are fluttering open and shut._

_My parents stare at me in horror and confusion._

_Then my mom’s face changes. It changes into her science face._

_“Maximillian,” she says gravely. “Our daughter just manifested.”_


	2. Chapter 2

**ELLA**

Some guard I don’t recognize opens the door to the van letting me and my mother out once we arrive at the base. Once inside, they lead us through a maze of hallways. I have the path memorized. I lost the count of how many times I have walked this same route with the same purpose. Is in these halls that I, over and over again, have to leave my soul and my mind behind. With every step I take another small piece of me hits the ground waiting for me to pick them up on the way out. I need to tear myself apart so I can go through what I’m about to do without breaking down.

I still remember the first time I did it.

I was barely twelve years old.

The screams coming from the body underneath me were drowning me and my mother yelling at me from the other side of the window to keep going to keep questioning to keep hurting were drilling into my mind and my heart and I didn’t speak to anyone for five days after that.  
Then I learned to empty my body until there was nothing but an empty shell in the interrogation room with my next victim. That, I realized, that was the only way I could survive a lifetime of this.

We reach the room connected to where the soldier is being held, we watch him through the two-way mirror. There is not much in the room, just a chair where he is sitting down with his shoulders slouched and chin on his chest, and another chair directly in front of him. That one is empty. That one is for me. He looks badly beaten. They probably had a go at the soldier trying to get him to spill and decided to call me when he refused to open his mouth.

“You’re going to go in the and ask him what were his intentions with the files he attempted to steal, Ella. Ask him who he is working with--” my mother says interrupting my thoughts.

“Yes, mom, I know how this goes.”

She nods once, slowly. “Go on then.”

I step outside of the room and go through the door of the next one. The soldier doesn’t look up at me, instead, he just stares at the floor in front of him. I sit down on the chair in front of him slowly and cross my legs.

“Hello, Private Cameron, I’m Ella Sommers,” I say. Sometimes just the fear of knowing what’s about to happen gets them to speak, so I always introduce myself first. Not everyone knows my face but they all know the name.

“I know who you are,” he says, his voice strained. “The last soldiers warned me about you.”

“Ah. Then you must know what’s going to happen now?”

“Yes,” he says looking up directly into my eyes. “And I’m not going to talk.”

I start to peel my gloves one finger at a time. “They all say that at first.”

Once both my hands are naked I offer one to him. He’s not foolish enough to resist and takes it.

And then, just like everyone else, he begins to scream.

***

_**14 years ago.** _

_It’s my first time back to sector 45 after the incident. After, according to my mom, I manifested. The first time outside my home and my mom’s lab since then. These two weeks have been a blur. My mom and dad have been furiously observing me and writing things down on their notebooks and making me touch things and taking blood sample after blood sample. Putting things in my body that burn me from the inside. I beg them to stop. I tell them that it hurt. But they won't stop, It’s all for your own good, they said, the sooner we understand just what you can do the sooner we can help you harness it._

_I don’t want to harness it. I want to get rid of it, I want to go back to normal._

_I don’t want to hurt my sister again. She was unconscious for three days after what I did to her and she wouldn’t speak to me. She didn’t look at me and I cried and cried and told her it was an accident that I would never hurt her. I apologized a million times until she forgave me. But she would still flinch every time I would come near._

_And now my mom and I are here because she said there were things she needed to discuss with Mr. Anderson before we proceeded. But I don’t want to be here because Aaron is here too, and he is going to see me and I don’t want to see me like this. He’s the bravest person I know and I don’t want him to know that I’m afraid. I can never hide anything from him. He’ll know something is wrong the moment he sees me._

_I don’t want to tell him that he can’t touch me, because all I want right now is a hug from my best friend._

_The door to the waiting room opens and Mr. Anderson steps inside. I’m both happy and sad to see that he came alone._

_“Evie,” he says. “What brings you here so urgently?”_

_“There’s been some developments you should know about,” my mom answers._

_“Oh?”_

_“Yes. Some most exciting development may I add. I think our plan is finally getting in motion.”_

_Exciting? How can any of this be exciting?_

_“Ella,” she continues, “why don’t you show Mr. Anderson what you-”_

_The door opens again interrupting her._

_Aaron steps into the room._

_No no no no_

_please leave_

~~_please don’t leave me alone here_ ~~

_“Father, have you seen the-” he stops short when he sees me. “Ella? Mrs. Sommers. I didn’t know you were coming.”_

_“Hello, Aaron, it’s good to see that you’re well,” my mom says. “Your father and I are having a conversation here, perhaps you can come back later.”_

_“No,” Mr. Anderson says, looking at my mom with a defying look, waiting to see if she contradicts him. “Stay here, son. What was it that you wanted to say, Evie?”_

_My mom narrows his eyes at him, turns to look at Aaron, she sighs. “Ella has manifested.”_

_His eyes go wide with shock and satisfaction, there’s the faintest shade of a smile on his lips._

_“Wonderful news indeed,” he says._

_“Manifested what?”Aaron asks walking closer to me. “Ella, are you sick?”_

_He lifts his arm to rest in on my shoulder and I jump back. “No!” I cry. “Don’t touch me.”_

_“What’s wrong? Are you mad at me?” he asks._

_The look in his eyes breaks my heart._

_Mr. Anderson says “Something useful I hope?”_

_“Why don’t you see for yourself?” my mom asks with a gleam in her eyes I don’t recognize. “Come on, Ella, show him.”_

_“Mommy no, I don’t want to.”_

_“Show what?” Aaron asks looking at me with so much worry._

_“I’m not asking, Ella,_ show him. _”_

_The tone in her voice frightens me. Slowly I offer my hand to Mr. Anderson. He shoots a look at my mom, and when she nods he takes it, just for a second. The now-familiar rush hits me and I gasp._

_Mr. Anderson falls into his knees, his face contorted in pain._

_He snatches his hand away from me. Looks up breathless. After a few seconds composing himself, he smiles and says “Perfect.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment if you're enjoying this!


	3. Chapter 3

**ELLA**

Back when I was only a child, touching a person for this long would’ve killed them. Now, I have better control over my power and I’m able to reduce the amount of energy that I take from my victim, drawing out the pain for a longer period of time. My parents taught me how. Made me practice with whatever disposable soldier they could get their hands on. Made me torture them until I couldn’t breathe from crying. Slowly, after I myself was thoroughly tortured by my own parents, I learned to control it. Like this, my power is not as consuming as it would be if I touched someone with my full potential, but from what I gather from their response, my touch still is extremely painful and lethal. It just doesn’t kill them as quickly. The only thing I have never been able to do is turn it off completely. And even if I did I wouldn’t know, I’m too afraid to try it on someone. Except—

Private Cameron tries to speak and chokes.

Immediately I remove my hand from his own and allow him a few seconds to recover before asking “What was that?”

“I said,” he shudders in a low, broken voice. “You hate it, don’t you? You hate yourself for what you can do.”

The boldness of his statement shocks me.

“What makes you say that?” I ask in the steadiest voice I can muster.

“I saw it. I saw how much this pains you. I saw how much you wish to stop.”

_What does he mean he saw?_ I wonder. His words affect me, perhaps even more than he thinks they do, but I can’t let it show. Instead, I turn into the picture of indifference and take his hand again, I try to use as little of my power as I can, just enough that he can manage to speak through the pain. Daring him to defy me again.

“And why would I ever stop?”

He gasps and struggles to catch his breath again, “Because you don’t want to be like them.”

“Ella?” my mother’s voice rings through the speaker. “I can’t hear what he says, darling, let him speak up.”

Rage and something else that I can’t quite place is weighing my body, pulls me down through the concrete floor and blocking all the light. I can feel myself losing control of my power but I can’t stop. I ignore her request and I pull at his hand bringing him closer to my face so I can whisper at him.

“You don’t me or what I want,” I say through clenched teeth.

“I know you better than you think,” he says in a barely audible voice. “I’m like you.”

I lose control of my power. It comes pouring out of me unrestrained. Just for a second, but it is enough. I release his hand, his body falls limp to the floor. Almost as soon as his body hits the ground there are soldiers and medical staff pouring into the room. They fall around him checking his vitals. My mother strolls behind them looking impassive, I know better than to fall for her looks. She is furious. 

“ _What were you thinking?_ ” she asks with flames in her eyes as she joins me in the back of the room.

“I was just trying to get him to speak, I lost control. I’m _sorry._ ”

He looks back at Cameron’s body—unmoving and pale on the floor—as the doctors check for a pulse with a stethoscope.

“Well, and did he say something useful to us?” she asks. 

She looks at me expectantly, but as hard as I try I can’t bring myself to answer. She says something else but I can’t hear. All I can do is stare as the doctor move the stethoscope from one place to another looking for something I know they won’t find. The doctor and the nurse that came with her look up to look at each other, the doctor shakes her head. 

“He’s dead,” she says.

All I hear is the static in the room.

“He didn’t say anything,” I whisper making my mother look back at me as if just remembering she asked me something. She pinches the bridge of her nose and releases an exasperated breath. 

“I’m sorry,” I say, though I’m not sure who I am directing my words to. I keep circling his words around and around my brain. I know, even if I try to deny it to myself, that he’s right. _Was_ right. I wouldn’t have lost control like that if his words didn’t hold any weight.

“We’ll deal with it back home,” my mother says. “I would hope, for your own sake, that he had less information than I think.”

_***_

**_13 years ago_ **

_I cried myself to sleep the day that Emmaline manifested._

_I knew what was going to happen to her. They were going to do to her what they did to me._

_I remember being strapped down to a cold table wearing only a thin robe. My mom and dad kept assuring me everything was going to be alright as they secured my hands and legs to the table and connected a thousand wires into my head. Then they injected me with things that burned and I would scream and cry for them to stop and then they would yell back when I wouldn’t do as they said. They would get mad when the results they would get from their tests weren’t what they wanted and they would repeat them over and over again. So many times until I felt like my skin had been burned off and I would pass out of the table._

_It went on for days, then they would stop and I would think that it was over but they would start to do the same tests again._

_Then they stopped being like they used to be. They wouldn’t play with us anymore or make pancakes on Sundays or treat us like their children._

_They would talk to us like they talked to the soldiers and commanders that would come to our house sometimes._

_I thought my parents loved us, but would they hurt us like that if they did?_

~~_I wanted to hurt them, too._ ~~

_I thought that it would be temporary, that one day our family would go back to normal, that it was all just a cruel cruel dream. But maybe the love had been the lie._

_But I had my sister and she loved me and she wouldn’t hurt me and she was safe._

_Then one day the plates on the dinner table started floating. Then Emmaline gasped and they came crashing down._

_And I pictured her in our parents’ lab, strapped to that table like I was._

_And then I thought_ I’m going to lose her, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I think I figured out an update schedule? I'll try to update biweekly (every sunday and wednesday) so stay tuned for the upcoming updates!!  
> Let me know what you thought of this chapter and of the story in general!! What do you think is going to happen? Is there anything you would like to see?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus chapter in honor of the Imagine Me cover dropping today!!  
> also because I can do whatever I want

**ELLA**

My mother doesn’t speak to me all the way back home. I know she’s furious, but I can’t bring myself to care. I hadn’t killed anyone in years. Not since I was fourteen and I lost control on a soldier who grabbed Emmaline by the waist and pulled her to him laughing. I remember the blinding rage I felt when I saw her trying to push him away. He must not have seen me down the hall or he would’ve never even thought about breathing in her direction. I waited for a second to see if she would use her power on him. Her abilities, unlike mine, weren’t common knowledge. But she didn’t use them, I think the shock of the situation left her paralyzed. So I walked towards them and kicked the soldier on the back of his knee making fall forward. Then with my ungloved hands, I grabbed him by the neck and yell at him to apologize. 

Emmaline just stood there watching as I drew the life out of him.

A few seconds later he fell dead on the floor.

I didn’t feel bad about it then 

and I didn’t feel bad about it now 

but this

this felt different.

I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t mean to kill him. I know that most people I torture end up being killed afterward anyway, but this time I could feel his blood on my hands. Because even after years of trying to bury my feelings and after years of telling myself that who I was wasn’t my fault I could help but feel that it was. And I hate it. I hate what I can do and I hate the Reestablishment for using me and for using my sister and everyone I love and I hate my parents for letting them and encouraging it and for never showing an ounce of remorse or guilt over it. 

But most of all I hate myself. I hate myself for what I do to people and for not once saying _no I won’t do it._ Because, as much as I hate my parents, I don’t want to lose them. I don’t know who I am without them. 

By the time the car pulls up in front of our home, I barely have enough energy to drag myself out of it. My mother, on the other hand, is already on the phone probably taking care of the mess I’ve made. When I go through the threshold of the house I spot Emmaline sitting with her legs crossed on the living room floor reading through her worn copy of the french version of War and Peace. My mother continues walking without any word of acknowledgment to either of us and makes her way upstairs, probably to her office. My eyes are burning from the tears I’m holding back and my heart is threatening to spill out of my chest. Emmaline, without looking up, asks “What resistance secrets did we learn today?”

When I don’t say anything she looks up and meets my eye. It takes her a second to understand what happened.

“Ella, are yo-” she begins to ask, looking at me with so much pity and worry on her eyes.

“I hmm...” I interrupt her. “I’m going to be in my room. I’m very tired.”

Before she can say anything I sprint past her and upstairs to my room. I close the door behind me, locking it and letting myself slide down to the floor. I choke down a sob and let the tears slide quietly over my cheeks. A quiet knock comes from the other side of the door.

“Ella?” Emmaline asks softly from the other side of the door. 

“I don’t want to talk right now, Emma,” I say, not caring anymore if she can hear me cry.

“Please just let me talk to you.”

“No.”

The door unlocks.

She steps in.

“Goddammit, I hate it when you do that.”

“Talk to me,” she commands.

“There’s nothing to say.”

“That’s clearly a lie.”

“Emma...” I sigh standing up and wiping the tears from my face. “I messed up okay? I killed the guy and I didn’t get any information. I ruined the mission.”

“Are you sure ruining the mission is what you are upset about?”

I open my mouth to say something but no words come out. I just shake my head and huff instead. 

“You’re allowed to be upset for killing someone, Ella,” she says. “You’re not a robot.”

“No, I’m not allowed,” I snap. “I’m not allowed to be upset for something like this because I’ll have to keep doing it. I’ll forever be the Reestablishment’s favorite torture weapon and I can’t allow myself to be upset over every single person that I hurt because I’ll just end up killing myself over it!”

Emmaline is quiet for a minute. And then “Maybe not forever.”

“What do you mean?” I ask through tears.

“When I’m Supreme Commander I’ll change things. I won’t let anyone use you. We’ll fix everything together. You’ll see.”

I laugh bitterly. “We’re not children anymore, Emmaline. You can’t believe we’re just going to fix everything. They’ll kill us first.”

“We’re stronger than them.”

“And what about the people?” I ask. “Do you think they’ll welcome us with open arms after everything we’ve done?”

“Maybe not at first,” she admits. “But they’ll see. We’ll show them”

Her resolve confuses me. We used to talk about everything we would change when we were in charge. Of all the people we would help. But that was years ago. I thought she had given up on that dream. I didn’t have much hope left myself. I had seen so many things. So many people just give up and accept any scraps the Reestablishment would give them. The future that Emmaline talked about sounded like nothing but a pipe dream. 

I give her a faint smile. She takes my shoulders in her hands and squeezes. 

“You’ll see,” she whispers.

“I’m really tired, Emma. We’ll talk later, okay?” I plead.

She nods and walks out of the room leaving me alone once again. I turn around and with the last bit of energy I have I plop down into my bed. I roll around for a few minutes incapable of shutting my mind off. Instead, I sneak my hand under my mattress and pull up my cell phone. I unlock it and open the secured chat room Nazeera coded for our friends and I. The texts we send through here are encrypted and can only be accessed with a password directly on the device that they were sent to. All of our calls and messages are monitored, and some things are better if kept secret. 

I scroll down to my private conversation with Aaron.

I debate for a while on what to say to him, so instead I just ask:

Ella: are you there?

It only takes him a few minutes to answer.

Aaron: Yes, love. Always.

Aaron: What is it?

After a moment of hesitation I just say:

Ella: I miss you

Aaron: I miss you, too. It’s been a while.

I smile at my phone. Even while texting he can’t help but use perfect punctuation. 

Ella: too long

Ella: can i come visit?

Aaron: Your parents won’t mind?

Ella: I don’t care. I need to see you

He takes a little longer to answer this time. I can almost see him furrowing his brows and realize something is wrong through the screen.

Aaron: Is everything all right?

Ella: I would rather talk about it in person

Aaron: Then come, and stay as long as you want.

Ella: can I be there tomorrow?

Aaron: Please.

Ella: :)

Ella: I love you

Aaron: I love you, too. I have to go now. See you soon.

I lock my phone and let it fall to my chest. I feel some of the weight being lifted from my shoulders. Just talking to him always makes me feel so much lighter. I turn to my side and close my eyes to sleep. I can deal with everything else tomorrow. Right now I just want to shut out the rest of the world, and dream of a white bird with streaks of gold like a crown on top his head as it flies away and leads me to freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally some Warner up in here!  
> Let me know if you are enjoying this fic!


	5. Chapter 5

**_ELLA_ **

**_14 years ago_ **

_ We’re back in Sector 45 soon after my mom made me demonstrate my powers to Mr. Anderson. Him, my mom and I are in his office. They’re discussing me but not talking at me. Usually, I would go running straight into Aaron’s room if I wasn’t needed, but now I’m afraid to face him. I couldn’t look at him after what I did. I’m terrified of finding out how he’ll be around me now. I didn’t get a chance to speak to him last time, he was quickly kicked out of the room after I touched his dad.  _ ~~_ What if he’s afraid of me? What if he sees me and walks away? _ ~~

~~_ I wouldn’t be able to stand that _ ~~

~~_ I can’t watch him run away from me _ ~~

~~_ I can’t I can’t I can’t _ ~~

_ “Ella?” my mom asks. _

_ I turn to look at him. _

_ “I need to discuss some things with Paris in private, please go wait outside.” _

_ I don’t know why she brought me here. Why bring me if she was going to send me away? I sit down on the floor outside Mr. Anderson’s office. I cross my legs and stare at my hands. My hands that were now lethal weapons. Hands that I can use to kill people hands with which I almost killed my- _

_ “Ella?” a too-familiar voice says. I turn to see Aaron at the end of the hall, dressed in his usual black pants and button-up shirt, he looks as he always has. I look down at myself. My usual dresses have been replaced my long-sleeved shirts, pants, and gloves. “I didn’t know you were here,” he continues. _

Would’ve you avoided coming here if you knew I was? _ I shrug trying not to make eye contact. _

_ “Why are you sitting out here alone?” he asks. _

_ “My mom told me to wait outside. She said she had to talk to your dad in private.” _

_ “Come with me, then. No need for you to be here by yourself.”  _

_ “Maybe I should stay here...In case they need me.” _

_ “Please?” he asks now standing right beside me. I look up at him. He’s offering me his hand. I burst out crying. He kneels next to me. _

_ “Hey,” he says putting a hand in my back, the contact makes me cry even more. “Are you okay?” _

_ I nod. He doesn’t hate me. He’s not afraid to touch me. He’s the first one who’s come this close to me since I  _ manifested _. _

_ “Common,” he says. “Let’s go to my room.” _

_ *** _

The next morning I have a small suitcase packed even though I have not told anyone of my plan to leave yet. If everything goes as planned, by the time the flight is arranged and I’m on my way to America, considering the time it will take me to get them and the time difference, I should be in Sector 45 and Aaron’s arms at 9 am. 

I gather all the strength and patience I can and go in search of my mother. We haven’t talked since what happened yesterday and I’m just hoping that she takes enough pity on me to let me go without question. Or that at least she is mad enough not to want to see my face around the house for a while. I find her sitting on the kitchen island having a cup of black coffee as she read through and makes notes on the results on one of her’s and my father’s most recent experiment. They haven’t shared any details on it with Emmaline or me, and we know better than to ask. 

I clear my throat. She makes a hand gesture towards me indicating that I have her attention even if when doesn’t turn to look at me.

“I need a flight arranged,” I say. “For today.”

She looks up at me from beneath her glasses. “And where do you suppose you’re going with such a hurry?”

Well. Here goes nothing. “45.”

“Ah,” she says, slowly setting down her coffee. “Of course.”

I hesitate. “Is that a yes?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t like you wasting your time with that boy.”

“I’m not  _ wasting time. _ There’s nothing for me to do here anyway.”

“Especially not after your little stunt yesterday, am I correct?” she asks.

I look away and take a deep breath. At this point, I’m not above from begging.

“Let her go,” says Emmaline walking into the kitchen. “Don’t you think she deserves a break after what happened?”

“What she needs is to reassess her priorities,” my mother says shooting me a sharp look.

“Why are you being so hard on her? Hasn’t she done enough for you?” she asks putting her hands on the counter and leaning casually over it, her relaxed posture a big contrast against the strain of her voice. “Besides,” she adds. “You never complain when I go spend some time with Nazeera or with Nico. You always say it’s good for us to spend time with each other. Political strategy and all of that.”

I know my mothers wants to say something else, but she looks at the both us, me pleading and Emmaline angry, and swallows her words. 

“Fine,” she says. “I’ll have the jet prepared for you then. I’ll need a couple of hours for the short notice.”

“Yes,” I say. I turn around and mouth  _ thank you  _ to Emmaline, she blinks and smiles a little in acknowledgment. With that, I leave the kitchen before my mother can change her mind.

***

_ We step into his room and he closes the door behind us as I go sit on the edge of his bed. I’m not crying anymore, but my breathing is still weird and there are dried tears on my face. Aaron turns around and watches me as I wipe them away.  _

_ “Sorry if I made you cry,” he says slowly. Even now he’s more worried about the fact that he may have hurt my feelings than anything else. That makes me smile. _

_ “No,” I say. “I just...I thought you would hate me.” _

_ “Why?” he asks furrowing his brows. “Because of what happened with my dad?” _

_ I nod. _

_ “I could never hate you, Ella. Least for something that you can’t help,” he pauses. “You’re my best friend. Nothing is going to change that,” he says, so tenderly. _

_ “I really wish I could hug you right now.” _

_ His gaze softens even more than it already was, he swallows and extends his arms to me.  _

Did I just say that out loud?

_ “We can,” he says.  _

_ “I don’t want to hurt you.” _

_ “You won’t.” _

_ “Aaron-” _

_ “Ella,” he interrupts, “I promise it’ll be fine.” _

_ He walks until he is standing in front of me and I stand up to meet him. He’s always been a head taller than me, but right now I feel incredibly small. He nods and slowly, so slowly, I wrap my arms around him and press my head against his chest, careful not to touch him. Soon he wraps his arms around me too. Squeezes.  _

_ “See?” he asks. “I told you I would be fine.” _

_ I nod and untangle myself from him and hide my hands behind my back. I look down at my feet, suddenly too shy to look at his eyes.  _

_ “How’s your mom?” I ask, not only desperate to change the conversation but also with genuine concern. He hadn’t talked about her in a while. His expression turns grim, his eyes water slightly, his body tenses up. He doesn’t need to tell me for me to know that is not good. _

_ “She’s...worse, I think,” he says, his voice strained and thick. _

_ “I’m sorry,” I say. “I still can’t convince my parents to do something.” _

_ “They won’t. My father asked them not to. I heard him.” _

_ “What?” I ask with disbelief. “That’s not fair, Aaron. I’m sorry.” _

_ We both stay quiet for a little. _

_ “Is there anything I can do to help?” I ask. _

_ He looks like he’s about to ask something, but then he shakes his head and turns away. _

_ “Aaron? What is it?” _

_ “Nothing, don’t worry. You don’t have to do anything.” _

_ “I want to help.” _

_ He looks back at me, he looks ashamed. _

_ “I-” he stammers, “I want to know what she feels like.” _

_ “What?”I ask confused. _

_ “Can you...touch me?” _

_ My eyes go wide, I struggle to find words. He’s insane _

_ insane _

_ “I can’t hurt you,” I say. _

_ “Please,” he begs. “I just need to know what is like for her.” _

_ “Aaron, you’re crazy. This won’t do any good.” _

_ “Ella...I want to understand. I...” _

_ He goes quiet. There’s so much pain in his eyes. I want to take it all away and lock it in the darkness forever until it shrivels away and disappears from this Earth. I want to rip the heads of everyone who’s ever hurt him clean off their shoulders, I keep the list on my mind, and day after day and I promise myself that, one day, I will. I’d do anything to make him happy, anything to see him smile again. But- _

_ “What if I can’t stop?” I ask. _

_ “You will, I trust you.” _

_ I take a deep breath. _

_ “Are you sure you want to do this?” I ask. Everyone has been keeping their distance from me, and yet he wants to throw himself into this. A fly flying straight into a spiderweb, perhaps the only difference is that flies don’t know the consequences. _

_ “Yes. But if you don’t want to it’s okay, I won’t force you.” _

_ I almost say no. But the look in his eyes makes me stop. If a little bit of pain would make him feel better I’ll do it. But knowing the pain his mother goes through every day will help? _

_ “Are you sure this would make you feel better?” _

_ “I don’t care about feeling better,” he says. “I just want to know.” _

_ I take a deep breath. I peel my gloves off, one finger at a time. He swallows and extends his hand to me. In slow motion, we bring our hands closer together. I’m not breathing, I can’t breathe.  _

_ Our hands touch and I gasp _

_ nothing _

_ I don’t feel anything _

_ I look up. He doesn’t feel anything. _

_ Time stops. Resumes. Stops again. _

_ “I...I don’t understand,” I say. _

_ He takes my hand in between his own. Still nothing. _

_ “I think...” he says. “I think I’m immune to you.” _

_ “How?” _

_ “I don’t know.” _

_ I didn’t realize I started crying again until he brings his hands to my cheeks and wipes them away with his thumb. He doesn’t let go. _

_ “Aaron, no one can’t know,” I say. “They’ll hurt you. They’ll do experiments on you like they do on me.” _

_ “Ella,” he says shocked, his face sad and angry and confused. I realize that this must be the first time he hears about this. I stop him before he can say anything else. _

_ “Promise me. Promise me you won’t tell anyone.” _

_ “Yes. I promise.” _

_ He drops his hands suddenly and jumps two steps back.  _ Did I hurt him? Is he not immune after all.  _ I start to panic. But then his door swings open. _

_ “Oh,” my mother says, surprise and a hint of anger in her voice. “Here you are. I told you to wait outside.” _

_ “It’s my fault,” Aaron says. “I just wanted to show her something.” _

_ My mother looks at him, squints her eyes and then “Let’s go, Ella, it’s time to go home.” _


	6. Chapter 6

**ELLA**

**_2 years ago_ **

_The one person I didn’t expect to see on Emmaline’s 18th birthday dinner was Anderson. Yet here he was, sitting in the dining table with the rest of my family. Emmaline had wanted to invite Nazeera over, but our parents had insisted in this being a family affair and told her to do anything she wanted after this. Which makes the fact that Anderson is here, chatting it up with our parents, even more strange. Just his presence is enough to make me boil with anger. I suppress all my emotions as well as I can and take my seat at the end of the table._

_“Hello, Commander Anderson, I didn’t know you were coming. Didn’t take you for a fan of birthdays,” I say, letting a little bit of poison coat my words._

_He has the audacity to smile, “I don’t know where you get that from,” he says with a laugh. I want to jump over the table and take his eyes out with my fork. Instead, I stab my meat and begin eating. “Besides,” he continues turning to Emmaline. “Eighteen is an important one. You’re an adult now, Emmaline. I just came to congratulate you, you’re turning into a fine woman. I’m sure you’ll make a great Supreme one day.”_

_“Thank you, Commander,” she says, I can tell she is uncomfortable. “I appreciate that.”_

_We all continue to eat while Anderson talks to my parents about their course of action in training Emmaline properly. Anderson’s presence here, other than confuse and upset me, makes me think of Aaron. We haven’t talked in a while, not since he left me unconscious after our parents forced us to fight each other. They had insisted that I should learn how to fight, even though just touching my skin was enough to bring anyone to their knees. Everyone except Aaron. Our parents still didn’t know that, and yet they made us fight with each other, putting his life at risk without caring._

_“It’s okay,” I said. “You can hit me.”_

_I knew that it would only make it worse if he didn’t._

_Our parents have a sick habit of trying to pit us against each other._

_So we fought. And though I’m completely competent at defending myself in a fight, Aaron was better. He was better than everyone else. We all knew that. I think they wanted to see if he would try to hold himself back._

_But I told him not to. “I can take it,” I said. “Just hit me.”_

_Soon after, I was short of breath and losing my balance. He asked to stop. “The fight is clearly over,” he said._

_“It’s not over until I say it’s over,” Anderson said. “Keep going.”_

_“Get it over with,” I said, blood coming out from the side of my mouth._

_With one last glove-covered punch I fell to the ground unconscious._

_I woke up sometime later laying on a hospital bed, my head pounding and my body sore. Aaron was sitting beside me holding my hand, his eyes red-rimmed._

_“I’m so sorry, love,” he said._

_“It’s okay,” I said to him. “It’s not your fault. Please don’t cry.”_

_He stood up and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’m sorry,” he said again._

_And that was the last time we talked. It was almost three months ago. I knew he felt guilty. I knew he was trying to put some distance between us to protect me. But I missed him. I had tried texting him a couple of times, but he hadn’t answered yet._

_“How’s Aaron?” I ask after a while. Anderson looks glad I asked._

_“Oh, he’s great sweetheart,” he says, a sick sick smile on his lips. “I’m sorry he couldn’t join me this time, he had some matters to attend to in Sector 45. In fact, I’m afraid he won’t be able to spend much time here anymore. I’m sure he will be spending his free time in Russia, now that he’s dating Lena I mean.”_

_My heart stops inside my chest_

_no_

_he is lying_

_he has to be lying_

_We talked about this just a few months ago, before the fight. We talked about how Anderson had been trying to pressure him into dating Lena. He told me he didn’t want to._ ~~_Did he lie to me?_ ~~

_“What?” I ask, my voice doesn’t sound like my own._

_“Oh,” Emmaline interrupts, trying to drift everyone’s attention away from me. “Since when?”_

_“Well,” Anderson says. “It’s been going on for a while, but it’s just been made official.”_

_“That’s lovely news,” says my father, “I’m happy for them.”_

_“So am I,” Anderson says. “Ella, darling, would you please pass the salt?”_

_I’ve stopped breathing_

_Emmaline crosses her hand across the table and passes him the salt_

~~_I’m so angry at him I feel like I could rip his head off._ ~~

_I look down at my hands, my mind so distant from my body_

_my eating utensils are bent in a 90-degree angle_

_did I do that?_

_Anderson misunderstands my anger, he thinks that I’m angry at Aaron. He smirks._ ~~_He wouldn’t be smiling if he could see what I was thinking of._ ~~

_“If you excuse me, I’m not feeling too well,” I say standing up._

_“Ella please sit down,” says my father, but I’m not listening. I go upstairs to the bathroom and throw all my dinner up._

_I can’t stop replaying our conversation. It was late at night when I got his call. He doesn’t usually call me, just when he’s distressed and needs to hear my voice. The anniversary of his mother’s death was close, and I worried that he might’ve relapsed into another bad depressive episode. I answered the phone. “Hey,” he said, more relaxed than I expected him too. Some of my anxiety went away._

_“Hey yourself,” I responded._

_“How are you?”_

_I knew there must’ve been a reason for him calling, especially at this hour, but I decided to play along for a little. “Oh you know,” I said. “Same as always. You?”_

_He sighed, “I’m fine.”_

_“That was convincing.” I retorted. “What is it?”_

_“My father-”_

_“Obviously.”_

_“He’s just...really insisting about me getting into a relationship with Lena.”_

_I felt my heart seize up for a second. “Mishkin,” I said, trying to make it pass as a question, but it came out as a statement instead._

_“Yes. Who else?”_

_I released all the air caught in my chest, unable to speak._

_“He’s...been trying for a while, but he’s particularly adamant lately.” he sighed._

_I was afraid to ask the thing I wanted to know the most. But I did anyway. “And… you don’t want to?” I whispered._

_“God, Ella, of course not,” he said exasperated. On this side of the line, my soul returned to me. “Why would I ever want to?”_

_“I don’t know! Maybe you-”_

_“Don’t even finish that sentence.”_

_Emmaline comes into my room, making our conversation crash and burn in my mind. I locked my door, but that had stopped working on her a few years ago. She sits by where I’m curled up on my bed, puts a hand on my leg._

_“Ella,” she starts._

_“He’s lying,” I say matter-of-factly._

_“How do you know?”_

_“Because!” I snap. “He would never date Lena, he told me that.”_

_“I thought you hadn’t spoken to him in a while.”_

_“No,” I say. “But feelings can’t change that fast. Anderson is just trying to upset me like he always is.”_

_“Even if they’re not dating that doesn’t-” she stops herself, thinks for a second. “Maybe Warner is trying to move on. Maybe you should too, Ella. How you feel about him...it’s only going to hurt you, you know that.”_

_“You don’t understand-”_

_“Ella,” she says, her voice more serious than before. “I’ve been watching you for a while now. This..._ thing _you two have, everyone sees it no matter how much you try to hide it. It’s hurting you both to hold on to something you can’t have.”_

_“Why?” I ask. “Because I can’t touch him?”_

_“Yes, Ella, that’s why.”_

And what if I can then? _I want to yell at her, but I don’t, because I know that the reason why we’ve never tried to have anything happen between us is that it puts us in danger. I don’t even want to know what would happen to him if they knew. What Anderson, what_ my parents _would do to him is they found out he can touch me. I know he has feelings for me, I can see it every time I look into his eyes. And he must know what I feel too. He always knows how I feel. Yet, none of us has ever even dared to speak of them. We’re just trying to keep each other safe._

_“I know it’s hard, Ella, but you have to let him go. It’s for the best.”_

_I shake my head. “He’s my best friend,” I say in a strained whisper._

_“I can’t make you do anything, but you know what’s right.”_

_I don’t want to keep talking about this. I want to forget that any of it ever happened. I put my head in her lap._

_“I’m sorry I ruined your birthday.”_

_She shakes her head, runs her hand up and down my back. “Don’t apologize, you didn’t ruin anything.”_

_I don’t know how long we stay like this, just breathing together, but soon after the exhaustion claims me and I drift away to sleep._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've upped the rating of this story (just in case) because of all the mental illness and abuse talk that happens in the future chapters. Still nothing too explicit here, folks, but I thought I'd be for the best.  
> I hope you've enjoyed reading this so far, leave a comment or a like if you are!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

**ELLA**

_**2 years ago** _

_I knew I needed to talk to Aaron and I had been putting it off. A week had passed since Emmaline’s birthday, and we were on our way to visit Nazeera. I was supposed to stay with them for the weekend. Instead, shortly after landing in the Asian continent, I made my way to Sector 45, Emmaline and Nazeera covering for me._

_After arriving at Sector's 45 military base I make my way to Aaron’s office without stopping or caring who sees me. I didn’t care much for formalities. I was here to end things between us, to let him go as Emmaline said. I knew she was right.That it is what I should do, even though it would rip my heart out._

_I get to his room and open the door without knocking. Empty. His office is empty as well. I sit on the couch and wait._

_Surely someone already told him I was here. He’ll come soon enough._

_Just as I thought, I didn’t have to wait long. The elevator door dings open. He steps into the room. He’s still wearing a holster with two guns strapped to each side of his rib-cage. He must’ve been doing target practice like he does every weekend._

_He looks at me, confused and elated._

_“What are you doing here, love?” he asks. “You didn’t tell me you were coming.”_

_“You haven’t been answering my texts,” I say standing up and walking towards the bookshelf away from him. He can read my emotions, he feels my hurt and my anger. He sighs._

_“I know, love. I’m sorry, I just-”_

_“Your father told me you and Lena were dating now.”_

_He flops down into his chair, runs a hand through his hair taking a deep breath._

_“Aaron?”_

_“It’s not true, Ella. You know I wouldn’t.”_

_“Why?”_

_He looks at me, laughs a little. It’s a sad laugh._

_“You know better than to ask questions you already know the answer for, love.”_

_My eyes begin to sting and I press my palms into them. “We can’t keep doing this, Aaron," I say, trying to sound determined and strong, but all it comes out is a small broke sound._

_“Ella-”_

_“No,” I stop him. “We’re hurting each other. I can’t just keep pretending that everything is fine when my chest hurts every time I look at you. You deserve someone who can love you and you can love them freely, without worrying about who knows, without having to hide-”_

_“Ella.”_

_“Aaron, we have to move on.”_

_“No.”_

_I snap, “Why can’t you-”_

_“No, I’ve listened to you. Now please listen to me,” he says, standing up and crossing the distance between us. He takes my head in between his hands. He tilts it slowly_ _—_ _so delicately_ _—_ _up so I’m looking directly into his eyes. They’re green and gorgeous and so full of emotion like I’ve never seen before. It’s killing me he’s_ killing _me. “That future you talk about, I don’t care for it. I don’t care for any of it if it’s not with you. I’ve loved you for so long,” His hands on my face are the only thing keeping me up, my legs have been rendered useless and I’m so weak so so weak. “You know that right?”_

_I nod, I nod over and over again. I’ve known for forever but hearing him say it it’s doing things to me that I can’t comprehend. There’s a heat forming at the pit of my stomach and coursing all through my body._

_“Say that you don’t love me,” he says, bringing his face so impossibly close to mine. “Say it and I’ll leave you alone if you want.”_

_I shake my head, my eyes falling shut. A shiver goes down my body making me feel warm. I’m suddenly hyper-aware of all the places my body is touching his. His fingertips on my cheeks, his forearms against my chest, his knees brushing my thighs. “You know I can’t say that,” I murmur._

_His hand sneaks to the back of my head, his finger tangling with the strands of my hair. Slowly, he closes the distance between us. I gasp against his lips. His lips move tenderly against mine. He brushes his tongue on my bottom lip and I think I’m losing my goddamn mind. He pulls away, taking my bottom lip in between his teeth with him. I whimper when he brakes contact and try to kiss him again but he stops me._

_“I want so many things, Ella,” he says trailing his hands down my body, sneaking them under my shirt. “I want to spend the rest of my days away with you. I want to take you into my bed and for you to dream of me in yours.” He presses one, two, three kisses up my neck. “I want to feel you shiver beneath me and to see you smile from above me. I want to memorize the shape of your body with my fingertips.”_

_My shirt is on the floor. I don’t even know when he took it off._

_Or did I take it off?_

_I don’t care._

_I want to get rid of everything between us._

_“I want to be the reason behind your smile. I want to live inside your brain, see every thought you have,” he says._

_“Aaron-”_

_He pushes me against his desk until I’m forced to sit on it, he steps in between my thighs and pulls me flush against him cupping my face with his palms._

_“Don’t you want all those things? Am I crazy for thinking you do?”_

_“No,” I say desperate, “No, you’re not crazy. I want them, I want them so much it hurts.”_

_“I know how scared you are, Ella. I can feel it. I am afraid too, you know I would never do anything to put you in danger. But I’m more afraid of losing you. I’m afraid of you walking away from me. Everything I’ve been through,” he says with his nose against mine, “I would go through it again if it means I can have you,” He pauses and takes a deep look into my eyes. I could get lost in the green forest of his, I would be happy to walk in it for the rest of my life. “I’ve dreamt about you for so long. You’re the only thing that makes me happy these days. The mere thought of you can pull me out of the darkest corners of my mind.”_

_“I love you,” I say, not being able to stop myself._

_“Say it again,” he whispers against my lips._

_“I love you, I love you, I love you.”_

_He pushes me flat against the desk kissing a trail down my body . I push him off me, I can’t stand having him dressed anymore. I pull his shirt out of his pants as he unstraps his holster and starts unbuttoning his shirt from the top. I unbutton from the bottom meeting him in the middle. His shirt falls to the floor. My pants follow soon after. I don’t know how but I’m on his bed and he’s crawling on top of me until his face is aligned with mine. His hair is slightly disheveled, his cheeks flushed and his lips swollen. If I thought he was beautiful before I certainly don’t know how to describe the way he looks like now. I don't have any words left for it._

_He leans down, presses a feather-like kiss to my lips. I could cry for the tenderness of it._ _“I feel so alive when I’m with you,” he whispers._

_And I know then, just with his words and his lips against mine, that I’m done being afraid. That I’ll fight anything, I’ll fight anyone to be able to have this for the rest of my life._


	8. Chapter 8

**ELLA**

After 12 hours of flight and a poor night of sleep, my body is exhausted, but that doesn’t stop me from jumping to my feet the second the jet comes into a stop. By the time someone opens the door from the outside my body is renewed with energy. I can feel it coursing through my veins, the warm of it keeping me from shivering at the crisp winter air. I walk down the jet stairs looking around at the landing area looking for a blond head and shining green eyes.

Soon after, I see him emerge from one of the side doors of the hangar. I’m sure he can feel my presence and excitement because in no time he spots me from in between the crowd and smiles at me. 

As badly as I want to run towards him and lose myself in his scent I restrain myself. He is flanked by soldiers and we both agreed that, in public, our relationship would be nothing but professional.

But the moment we’re alone I will get rid of all the layers that keep my skin from his and I’ll kiss him. I’ll kiss him and won’t stop.

He stops three feet away from me. Too far.

“Miss Sommers,” he says formally. “It’s good to have you here.”

“Thank you for welcoming me. There are things we need to discuss, Commander Warner.”

Another smile flashes through his features, gone before I can properly savor it. 

“I agree,” he says slowly. “Sanders,” he commands, directing his look at one of the soldiers standing behind me. “Please escort Miss Sommers to the guest quarters. I have some things to take care of first,” he says looking at me once again. “I’ll come to look for you when I’m done. I should be done by 1100 hours. It’ll give you time to settle down and freshen yourself up, I know you’ve had a long trip.”

“Yes,” I say a little bit disappointed but thankful for the time I have to compose myself. “Thank you, Commander.”

“See you soon, then.” 

With that, he turns on his heel and walks away, leaving me with the soldiers as they escort me away.

_ *** _

After I brush my teeth and my hair and after I’ve washed my hands and my face obsessively I sit on my bed expectantly. I cross and uncross my legs. Stand up and pace around. Sit down again. The anticipation has made me restless. Finally, after what felt like an eternity under an unforgiving sun, I hear steps approaching down the hall.

The door opens. Aaron steps into the room and closes the door behind him.

“Hey,” he says, his cold mask dissolving into a warm smile.

“Hi.”

He takes to steps towards me, he’s so close I can smell his aftershave.

“Missed me?” I ask looking up at him through my lashes. I can see every feature of his face from here.  _ God,  _ I think,  _ even better than I remembered.  _

“You don’t know how much,” he says, softly. 

I don’t care about words anymore. I lift my face to his and brush his lips against mine. A shudder goes through my body. The faintest of touches, and all the hair on my body is standing up in prayer to him.

“Wait, love,” he says taking my face in between his hands and pushing me away so he can look down at my eyes. “Didn’t you want to talk?”

I fully did have the intention to talking to him before...well. I threw that out the window the second he stepped into the room. 

“It can wait,” I say, already pushing his coat off his shoulders. He doesn’t need more convincing than that. He lets go of my face to let his coat fall to the floor. As soon as it does, he takes me into his arms again, pushing me against the wall and crashing his lips to mine. It’s a desperate, hungry kiss, it’s a kiss that says  _ I’ve missed you, please don’t ever leave me again. _

“You seriously have no idea how much I missed you,” he says through ragged breaths. “How much I needed you.”

He’s pulling my sweater to the side, exposing my shoulders to him. He presses a kiss to it, scrapes his teeth against my collarbone. I don’t know how I’m standing anymore, my bones have turned to liquid, all my joints ignited and turned to ash.

“Show me,” I say.

He runs his hands down my body stopping behind my knees and lifting me up, I automatically wrap my legs around him. Before I noticed we’ve moved, he’s laying me down softly into the mattress. He settles in between my thighs holding one of my legs by the back of my knee. With his other hand, he traces a line over my lips. I close my eyes, feel his hot breath in my ear. 

“I love you,” he whispers. So tenderly. I turn my head to capture his lips in mine again.

Without another word

without wasting any more time

we get lost in each other. 

***

I don’t know how long it’s been since he first walked into the room. Hours I think, how many I don’t know and I certainly do not care. I don’t have a care in the world when I’m wrapped in his arms like this. I’m half laying on his body, my head resting on his chest. His breathing is slow and constant, we haven’t said a word in a while. We didn’t need to. We said everything we needed to say with our bodies. I haven’t felt this at peace for a while. My mind had been spinning out of control since the incident with the soldier, but being here filled me with a sense of calm and rightfulness I can’t quite describe.

I think Aaron might’ve fallen asleep until he stirs and murmurs into the top of my head “Your hair is on my face, love.”

I push down a laugh and press a kiss to his chest. I stand in both my elbows and push my hair back, away from his face. “Better?” I ask.

“Yes. Now I can see your face,” he says taking a hold of my chin and pulling me into a kiss. I sigh against his lips,  _ God, I missed him so much. _

“You want to talk now?” he asks.

I recoil.

“Don’t ruin it, I’m too happy right now.”

“Staling won't do any good.”

I unravel myself from him and turn to lay flat on my back. “I know,” I whisper. He turns into his side and starts to trail a path with his fingers up and down my arm.

“I...lost control questioning someone.”

I don’t have to say more for him to understand what I mean. He takes a deep breath, opens his mouth to speak.

“He’s dead,” I interrupt. “I killed him.”

“Love, you know that’s not your fault. They forced you into it,” he says without missing a beat.

“But it  _ is my fault _ . He said some things that got me upset and I  _ wanted  _ to hurt him. I went too far.”

He furrows his brows and asks “What did he say?”

I rise into a sitting position pulling the sheets with me to cover myself. “He said he could  _ see  _ me? I’m not sure what he meant, but he also said he could see how much I hated what I could do and what I was. He said that he could see that I didn’t want to be like them. Them being my parents or the Reestablishment I suppose.”

Aaron goes quiet for a while, I can see the gears turning inside his head. “An Unnatural? Like us?” he asks. 

I shrug. “Maybe. There have been rumors of other people like us being out there.”

“It wouldn’t be hard to believe,” he says.

No, it wouldn’t. I’ve been wondering for years if there would be more people with abilities like us. With Emmaline’s telekinesis, Aaron’s ability to feel emotions and his immunity towards me, my deathly skin. Aaron’s mom. We can’t be the only ones, the question is, what do others can do?

“Does your mother know?” he asks.

“No,” I say. “I didn’t say anything.”

I don’t need to explain why. We had both been secretly hoping for a rebellion for years now, something that would free us from this life. But we had seen many resistance attempts been crushed before the spark had the chance to make anything else catch on fire, many of these crushed under our own unwilling hands. We had lost hope. But now, maybe someone more powerful than us was out there, waiting in the shadows for a chance to strike.

“Or perhaps...” he says. “Perhaps he was just trying to get inside your head.”

That’s possible too. Maybe we’re just too eager to believe in something.

“Maybe.”

I fall back into the pillows with a grunt. The silence between us is now tense. I want so desperately to go back into the easy, light feeling we had just minutes ago. I turn and throw one of my legs over him so I’m straddling his hips. I lean down and bury my face in his neck running up my nose alongside his jaw. I can feel his body tense up under me. “I’m not keeping you from anything right now, am I?”

He pushes back the strand of hair that fell into my face and pulls lightly on it. “No,” he says. “I cleared my schedule for today when you told me you were coming. Nothing will part me from this bed.”

I bring my face down to kiss him, but just when my lips are about to touch his my stomach grumbles in protests.

_ Dammit. _

Aaron laughs. “Hungry, my love?”

I guess there’s no point in denying it. “Yes.”

He sits up pulling me up with him. “Come on then,” he says. “Let’s go to my room, I’ll call for some dinner there.”


	9. Chapter 9

**_ELLA_ **

**_2 years ago_ **

_I have slept in Aaron Warner Anderson’s bed three times._

_The first one almost three years ago. I startled awake on one of the guest rooms on base covered in sweat. I could still feel Aaron’s blood on my hands from my nightmare. I washed them furiously, but the sensation would not go away. I thought to myself_ I’ll just make sure he’s alright. I’ll come back to sleep after that. _So I went into his room to check on him. He was still awake. He saw how shaken I was, and without asking anything, laid me down on his bed. He stayed beside me until I fell asleep again, but then he got up and went to sleep in his office._

_The second time was eight months ago. I had come to visit, and I was waiting for him to come out from a meeting which took way longer than expected. I laid down on top of the covers and fell asleep. I woke up when he returned but I didn’t move, he pretended not to notice. I still didn’t move when I felt the opposite side of the bed dip. And I still didn’t move when I felt the faintest of touches in my hand. One of his fingers just barely touching on of mine. He pretended not to notice how my entire skin got covered in goosebumps. We didn’t move the entire night, waking up exactly how we had gone to sleep the night before._

_This was the third time._

_An enormous jump ahead from the last two times. Like climbing up a couple of steps from an interminable ladder and then jumping off a cliff instead._

_I’ve been awake for an hour or so, Aaron still soundly asleep beside me. I thought he always was awake and ready to go at five am, he would always answer my texts when I would send one in the middle of the day but the middle of the night for him. From what I know, he wakes up in the middle of the morning, trains for a few hours and then works until late at night. But it’s past eight now and his eyes are still moving under his eyelids and his chest is still rising and falling slowly. I really don’t want to wake him, but I really should get going. I wasn’t even supposed to spend the night here._

_He’s laying on his stomach, the sheets covering only the lower half of his body. I stare at his scars in his back. A physical testimony of the terrible violence he has been subjected to for the majority of his life. And then his tattoo, a reminder to fear nothing and grieve nothing and to take everything. I reach across the small place between us and trace a line across his cheeks lightly with one of my fingers, trying not to startle him but adding enough pressure to lure him out of his dreams. He stirs a little. His eyes flutter open._

_He smiles_

_dimples and all_

_I forget why I needed to leave in the first place._

_“Good morning, sweetheart,” he says pulling me closer._

_I want to freeze this moment and live in it forever._

_“Good morning, sleepyhead.”_

_“Sleepyhead?” he asks with furrowed brows and an amused smile._

_“You slept a lot,” I reconsider my words. “Well, more than usual.”_

_He turns to look at the clock. “Oh wow,” he exhales. “It’s your fault for keeping me up past my bedtime.”_

_There’s some sort of light humor in his voice that I haven’t heard from him before._ He’s teasing me, _I realize. He’s never teased me like this before. I like it._

_“Are you complaining?” I ask trying to match his tone._

_He pulls me even closer burying his face into my hair. “No. Please keep me up every night.”_

There’s nothing I would like more, _but “I wish...but I should probably go,” I sigh. “I need to go back to Asia, Nazeera and Emma are covering for me. I was supposed to come here to tell you off and go back.”_

_“Slight change of plans?”_

_“Well, in theory, I did kinda tell you off...it just didn’t have the expected outcome.”_

_“But not a bad one?”_

_“No,” I smile. “I should really go, though.”_

_He sighs and sits up. “Let’s just talk first,” he says. “We should get on the same page on certain things if we want to make this work.”_

_“I agree.”_

_We both agree that it’s best to keep our relationship secret, not only because it would expose Aaron’s abilities, but also just because our parents aren’t exactly fans of each other. Anderson has hated me since the day that we had to target practice on each other._

_All of us were there. Aaron, Emmaline, Nazeera, Haider, Nicolas, Valentina, Lena, and Stephan; all standing in a circle with a gun in front of us we were supposed to assemble and use to shoot each other. Before anyone could even put their guns up Aaron had already put a bullet in everyone’s arm, but when he turned to me he hesitated. Just for one second. Long enough for Anderson to notice. He fired. And_ missed _. On purpose. He only grazed my arm a little, leaving a tiny scar in my left arm._

_Anderson’s vendetta against me had started then. He didn’t particularly like me before, but he saw just how_ weak _I made his son then. For him not shooting someone you care about means weakness._

_My parents didn’t like how comfortable I was around him. I think they would rather me being afraid and complacent for the rest of my life._

_So it was better to keep everything between us to ourselves._

_“And I’ll clear up everything with Lena,” he says. “I’ll tell my father to stop his efforts.”_

_“You think he will?”_

_“He can try as hard as he wants, I’m not playing along with him anymore.”_

_There’s a lot of resolve in his words. It makes me feel good about how seriously he is taking us, but I’m also afraid for him. I know better than anyone how far Anderson is willing to go to get what he wants. “Just...be safe okay? I don’t want you getting hurt for me.”_

_“Yes, my love,” he pauses and looks down at my hands, taking them between his own. “I know things aren’t..._ ideal. _We won’t be able to see each other most of the time or do many things in general, but, if your willing to look past that then so am I.”_

_“I am, too. I’m just happy to love you.”_

_“The course of true love never did run smooth,” he says._

_I think about that phrase for a little. It sounds familiar. After a few seconds, I’m able to place it. It’s another Shakespeare, this one not inked on his body but on his mind. “_ A Midsummer Night’s Dream _,” I say._

_He smiles a little and nods bringing one of this hands still linked with mine to my cheek. “You’re taking my heart with you, Ella Sommers. Please take care of it well.”_


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long(er) chapter ahead!!  
> **translation for the Spanish dialogue in the notes at the end**

**ELLA**

We sit down in his office after he calls for dinner to be brought to us. A comfortable silence falls between us while he starts going through some files. I, in the meantime, spend the time snooping around his office. I read through the title of his personal book collection, the ones he kept for himself even though the Reestablishment decided to get rid of them. I’ve seen him reading some of them. I spot _The Tempest_ on one of the top shelves. I reach towards it and flip to the page where the quote that is permanently tattooed on his body is. I had read the book a couple of years ago and I don’t remember all the details of the play, but some wizard had conjured a great storm upon a ship looking for revenge. In the middle of the wreckage, one of the sailors had said: “Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” I never completely understood the complete meaning of this play, or most of his works, but I did see why Aaron had resonated with that quote. I was really easy to feel that way in this world.

I continue to stroll down his shelves and unto his vinyl records. I pause at the Bob Dylan album I’ve heard him play multiple times, _he likes a lot of sad things,_ I realize. Maybe I should get him a collection of love poems or a disco album. I laugh at the idea. he would probably hate a disco album, but it would be worth it for his expression alone. 

In one of the drawers, I find polaroid camera, just like the one my parents used to have when we were children. It still has film on it. I walk calmly towards Aaron, trying to keep my emotions neutral so he doesn’t feel a shift on them and busts me. Slowly I bring the camera to my eyes. I spy him through the viewfinder. He is still deep in thought reading through his files, a hand by his face with his finger lightly touching his bottom lip.

I snap the picture.

Aaron looks up at the flash.

He looks slightly amused. “What do you have there, love?” he asks.

I smile innocently at him and grab the film as it slides out of the camera. “Nothing,” I say.

“Show me?” 

I put my hands behind my back hiding the picture from him. “No. It’s mine. For my eyes only.”

He puts the file down slowly and smiles at me wickedly. He starts walking towards me. Circling me like a hunter does its prey. He’s an inch away from me. “Please?” he asks.

There’s a knock on the door behind me before it opens. Aaron takes a few steps back as, Delalieu I assume, rolls a cart with our dinner into the room. Before Aaron looks away I take the picture and sneak it under my shirt, securing it with the strap of my bra. I wink at him. 

I turn to Delalieu, “Oh, thank God,” I say. “I’m starving.”

“Good to see you, Miss Sommers, it’s been a while,” he says, a shy, nervous smile on his face.

I nod. “Likewise.”

He strolls the cart further into the room and sets the plates down in the boardroom table. “I brought some coffee for you Mr. Warner, and some tea for Miss Sommers,” he says. 

Aaron nods and pulls out a chair on the table for me and then sits down to my right side. “Thank you, Lieutenant,” he says, “that would be all.”

“Yes, Sir,” Delalieu nods, “I’ll leave the cart here, you can’t leave everything outside your door once you’re done.”

“Thank you,” Aaron responds. “You can retire now.”

Without another word, Delalieu leaves the room closing the door behind him. He looked eager to leave. I look down at my food inquisitively. “Does he...” I start unsure. “know anything?”

Aaron looks towards the door. “About us, you mean?”

I nod.

“I’m sure he suspects, though he wouldn’t know what or exactly how it’d work.”

I feel a little uncomfortable about the idea of Delalieu knowing, but I trust Aaron and I know he would do something about it if he knew him knowing would pose a threat towards us, but he says nothing else, so I drop the subject too. I stare down at our food. There is a serving of steamed vegetables, some cut of meat and a serving of mashed potatoes. At the sight of the latter, a memory comes and I have to eat back a laugh. It was just a months after Aaron and I had started dating. I came to visit him for a couple of days under the fake excuse of my “services” being needed to question a soldier. We were having dinner together, and just like right now, there was also a serving of mashed potatoes on each of our plates. He kept looking at it with a strange look on his face. I asked him what was wrong, and he, with the most bewildered expression he asked: “Aren’t mashed potatoes meant for babies?”

I busted out laughing and kept laughing for a couple of minutes before I could compose myself and explain to him that no, mashed potatoes were, in fact, an adult food as well. I couldn’t believe that he had gone 19 years of his life thinking that. 

“I know what you’re laughing about, love, and it’s not funny,” Aaron says bringing me back from my memories.

“It is a little funny.”

He just shakes his head and starts to eat but I can tell he’s trying not to smile. We eat our dinner in silence after that, our knees touching lightly under the table. After we finish eating I help him clear out the table and I sit in his desk as he takes the cart outside. I run my finger across the dark mahogany wood as I lean back further into the seat. The combination of jet lag with dinner and a warm cup of tea has made me sleepy. I rest my head on the armchair and close my eyes. I hear Aarons steps coming back into the room. 

He takes my hand in his and brings it to his lips. “Tired, love?” he asks. 

I just nod. 

“Let’s go to bed, then.”

I open my eyes and make to walk to the room but Aaron stops me. “Wait,” he says opening one of the drawers of his desk. He takes out a small, rectangle-shaped thing wrapped in parchment paper and hands it to me. “I’d nearly forgotten.”

I smile and take it in my hands “For me?” I ask. 

“Obviously.”

I unwrap the gift. Inside is a small leather-bound journal, the letters ES are engraved in the bottom. “I think you were running out of space in the last one.”

It’s the perfect gift. I can’t help but smile at the fact that he noticed that my old journal was nearly full and thought of getting me a new one. “Thank you,” I say pressing a small, quick kiss to his cheek. “I love it.” 

I take the picture I took of him from inside my shirt wiping it in my pants. I grab a paper clip from his desk and use it to attach the picture to the first page of my new journal. Aaron looks down at me and shakes his head smiling. 

He presses a kiss to my forehead. “Let’s go to sleep then.”

I grab his hand as we walk towards his room. “Can I borrow a shirt?” I ask stepping into his closet and letting go of his hand. “I packed in such a hurry I forgot to bring pajamas with me.”

“I’m pretty sure you have some here, I ordered you some,” he responds without turning to look at me.

“I like yours better,” I sigh in hopes of coxing him into lending me clothes. 

I catch a glimpse of his profile. I can see him smiling as he unties his tie. “Or you could just go to bed without any clothes on,” he says suggestively but serious at the same time. Like he could not see a fault behind his argument. 

“Ugh,” I complain wrapping my arms around his waist. “But it’s so cold here.”

He turns around and I lift my face so I’m facing him. “I’ll keep you warm,” he whispers. 

I laugh. “Damn, Aaron, if you don’t want to lend me your clothes just say so.”

“Take anything you want,” he says touching his nose to mine. “Everything I own. It’s all yours.”

“Oh, that’s good to hear,” I say. “I’ve been taking your soaps with me back to Oceania for months.”

He tilts his head to the side. “Have you now?”

I nod. 

“I knew I was missing some,” he says, turning around again as he continues to undress himself. 

We finish getting ready for bed. Once we settle down to sleep I move sleepily into his arms. He kisses my hair. “Goodnight, sweetheart,” he whispers.

I try to respond, but my mouth won’t obey my brain anymore. Before I know it my eyes flutter shut involuntarily and I drift away to sleep. 

***

I stir awake when Aaron gets up from the bed and makes his way to the bathroom, closing the door softly behind him. I rub my eyes with the back of my hands and stifle a yawn. The room is still dark. Which means that Aaron has woken up before the sun again. _Great_. I always was kind of an early bird myself but this is just ridiculous. Aaron comes out of the bathroom a few minutes after looking fresh and smiles when he sees me awake. I must look like a tank ran over me. That’s how I feel anyway. 

“Good morning, love,” he says. 

I plant both my arms to my sides and look towards the ceiling “You know...” I say narrowing my eyes, “I thought I missed waking up with you, but on second thought...maybe not.”

He laughs. “Come on, love,” he says taking my arm and pulling me into a sitting position. “Come train with me.”

I let my body turn into dead weight and slump against his chest. “Seriously, what time is it?”

“Five am. And be grateful, I’ve been up for an hour but I decided to let you get some more rest.” 

“How kind of you.”

After getting dressed we make our way to his private training facilities. He forced me into doing cardio with him and then helped me with fight training. Ever since our little black-out incident, he’s been pretty adamant in me perfecting my technique. I tried to convince him that my less than perfect fighting abilities would suffice since everyone but him would fall to their knees with the slightest brush of my skin. But alas, he was not persuaded. “Even then, Ella,” he had said. “If they can overpower you, your skin won’t save you.” And even if I hate to admit it, he was right. My skin would not always protect me.

And truth be told, I really enjoyed training with him. It was different than training back home with whatever instructors my parents would bring. He was patient and kind with me, he didn’t yell or threaten to punish me when I did something wrong or took to long to grasp something. He showed me over and over again how to do each movement, making sure I understood how it all worked. He also made sure to adapt his teachings to fit my much smaller and lighter frame, showing me how I could use my size to my advantage. 

Plus he always looks incredibly attractive while training. 

“I think that’s enough for today,” he says after the seventh—or eighth?—time he has me pinned to the ground. I’m so out of breath I can barely nod. I’m sweaty and trembling and he still looks as composed as he did when we came down almost two hours ago. Maybe I should take his advice and do cardio more often. We cool off with some knife throwing, shower and get dressed. I put on a simple back turtle neck with some jeans and squared heel boots. No gloves. Aaron looks impeccable as always in a pair of black slacks and a fitted forest green sweater. 

When we go back upstairs breakfast is already laid nicely on the boardroom table. I guess Delalieu is still trying to avoid being in the same room as us as much as possible. He’s very easily flustered. I grab a cup of fruit and start eating as Aaron pours himself and I some coffee, his black, and mine with cream and sugar. I watch him as he takes a piece of bread and starts eating it with a fork and knife. How proper. 

As he sips the last of his coffee he asks “I’m going to do some rounds around the sector, want to come with?”

“Yes,” I say. “Of course.”

I quickly finish the last of my breakfast and finish getting ready for going outside. I grab a long overcoat and a scarf, still deciding against gloves. I meet Aaron back at his office and when we’re both ready to go we walk outside together with a small group of soldiers trailing not too closely behind us. 

Not too long after we reach the living area. Hundreds of those large, metal shipping containers stacked on top of each other serving as homes for the citizens of the sector and across America. It had been Aaron’s idea for a temporary replacement for the people’s actual home. Only Anderson never had the intention of actually reconstructing them. The temporary solution seemed more permanent with each passing day. I look at Aaron as he walks around inspecting the area and talking to some citizens. I can tell they have some respect for him. though I don’t know if it’s born out of fear. Some kids run around the area laughing. I can’t help but smile at them and their beautiful innocence. One of them slips on the icy ground and falls face-first into the ground. I walk towards him and lift him up by pulling at his jacket careful not to touch his skin. He starts to say thank you, but then he sees me and Aaron and the soldiers behind me and he freezes. I try to smile at him to reassure him but it comes off as a weak attempt at kindness. With one last terrified look, he runs away trying to catch up to his friends. 

I turn around and walk back to where Aaron is standing. He watches as I shove my hands back into my pockets. “He’s afraid of us, love. Not you.”

I shrug. I’m used to getting that reaction from people. “It’s colder than I remember,” I say changing the subject. My hands are starting to ache and part at the knuckles and I begin to regret not bringing gloves with me. Aaron takes his gloves off his hands and hands them to me. “Take them,” he says. “If you want.” 

I take the gloves and put them on my own hands. They’re big on my hands but I’m thankful to keep the frigid wind chill away. I look back at the soldiers, one of them is looking at us very intently. I think he has since we left. The relationship between Aaron and I has always been a topic of conversation between the soldiers of his sector. They find it strange since Aaron doesn’t really associate with the children of other Supreme Commanders, at least not as much as he does with me, and just doesn’t have many friends in general. So they wonder why would he choose to spend so much time with me, considering my affliction. But the way this particular soldier is looking at us makes me wonder if something other than the usual fascination in us is going on.

“Aaron?” I say.

“Yes, Ella?”

“Ese soldado ha estado observándonos muy de cerca,” I say in Spanish, just as an extra precaution in case they can overhear our conversation. I doubt any of the soldiers speaks it. 

“Quien?” he asks without missing a beat.

“El tercero a la derecha, asiático.” 

“Ah,” he says as he expected it. “No te preocupes por el. El es...un personaje interesante.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. Don’t worry,” he says turning to look at him. “Kishimoto,” he says making the soldier’s eyes go wide. 

“Yes, sir,” he responds attempting to sound serious but his voice croaks mid-sentence. He clears his throat. “Yes, sir,” He says again.

“Your shoe is untied, please fix it.”

He looks confused, then looks down. “Shit,” he mutters as he scrambles to retie his loosened shoelace. 

Aaron looks back at me, blinks a quiet _see?_

Yet something tells me that Kishimoto is pretending to be a bigger fool than he is. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation for Spanish part:
> 
> “That soldier has been observing us very closely.”
> 
> “Who?”
> 
> “Third to the right. Asian.”
> 
> “Ah.” - “Don’t worry about him. He’s...an interesting character.”
> 
> ***  
> are y'all enjoying this?? leave a comment!!!


	11. Chapter 11

**ELLA**

Once back on base, Aaron sits down and starts going through a new pile of files and letters that have piled up on his desk. Unlike yesterday, instead of snooping around in his office, I sit down and grab some of the files to help him go through them. I read and summarize them so he can read my notes instead of going through pages and pages of things that could’ve been said in a paragraph or two. The first one I grab is a fifteen-page request from the soldiers of sector 45 to increase their lunchtime by 4 minutes. I can’t help but roll my eyes at it. No one would’ve ever noticed if they just took those 4 minutes. Well, maybe Aaron would’ve, but he wouldn’t have cared enough to do something about it, yet they sent this extensive request complete with an excruciatingly detailed list of pros, cons, and how would they make up for the lost time. I grab a sticky note and write “Soldiers want 4 minutes more to eat,” plus an extremely summarized version of the pros and cons and the word “BORING” in all caps at the bottom of it. 

I drop the file on the desk and move on to the next. Some hours pass and I go through so many of these that I lose count. Soldiers reporting on the updated version of the simulation chamber. Generals detailing their training plans. I don’t know how Aaron does this every day without launching himself through a wall. I grab one of the letters and slice it open. It comes from the Capital. I begin reading. 

_Chief Commander and Regent of Sector 45_ _A. Warner,_

_Supreme Commander Anderson is pleased to inform that the family of Seamus_ _Fletcher, executed on Friday the 16th of the current month by Commander Warner, was executed effect immediate after The Supreme’s command for being complicit in the crimes committed by the former_

I stop reading. 

I start it over from the beginning.

“Who’s Seamus Fletcher?” I ask.

That makes Aaron stop, his body tenses up. “What?” he asks startled.

“Seamus Fletcher,” I repeat. “It says...his family was executed after you killed him.”

“Can I...” he says his voice and hands shaking. “Can I see that letter?”

I hand it to him, I can see him struggling to breathe as he reads it. “Aaron, are you okay?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “I should’ve known this was going to happen. I should’ve been more careful,” he says. His chest is rising up and down fast, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles go white, his eyes are tightly shut. 

He’s having a panic attack. 

“Aaron, look at me,” I say grabbing his face between my hands. “Do you need your medicine?”

He nods. I sprint out of his office to get it. I’m back with a small orange bottle of pills and a cup of water in no time. I hand him both of them but he takes the pills dry. Slowly, so slowly he starts to calm down. I just kneel next to him holding his hand until he opens his eyes again. “Sorry I scared you,” he whispers.

I shake my head. “You don’t have to apologize. Just talk to me. What happened?”

He takes a few minutes more before he starts telling me the story. He was doing his rounds around the sector when he came across Seamus Fletcher’s wife. She was badly beaten. She said it had been an accident, but he hadn’t needed his powers to be able to tell that she was lying to him. He knew those kinds of bruises. After hours of coaxing, she told him about what he had been doing to their family, about the drinking and the beatings of her and their children, the miscarriage he had provoked. He doesn’t need to tell me that he was furious, I know how he reacts to abusive men like him. So he had taken Fletcher’s stealing habits as an excuse to execute him, even though he knows many of his soldiers steal supplies every now and then. He had killed him to protect his family. And now they were all dead.

“Aaron, I’m so sorry.”

He shakes his head, his red-rimmed eyes fluttering shut from the drowsiness induced by his medicine. “I should’ve known. I’ve should’ve taken more precautions to protect them.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“But I could’ve saved them,” he says, his voice so small and hopeless it breaks my heart into a million tiny pieces. I stand up and press a kiss to his hair, holding his head to my chest. 

“Your father would’ve found any excuse to kill them, you know that. You did what you could, Aaron. Please don’t blame yourself for this.” When he doesn’t respond I add softly “They’re in a better place now.”

I can feel him drift away so I pull him up to a standing position. “Come on,” I say. “Let’s go to bed, you need some rest.”

He lets me drag him into his bedroom and tuck him into bed after taking off his shoes. I lay beside him, my arms wrapped around his waist until his breathing becomes even. After I’m certain he is asleep I slowly unwrap myself from him. I return to his office and sit down on his desk with my journal. I write out my anger and my hurt. I write down my hatred for everything wrong in the world. But mostly I write about Aaron. I write about his eyes and the pain in them and his joy and the way he makes me feel and how I would do everything, everything to protect him from the cold, cruel hands of the world. I stare at the picture I took of him yesterday and I think of the ones of him as a child. A child who did not yet know pain and suffering and betrayal.

A child with a kind smile and bright eyes and a warm heart.

A child so far gone and somehow still here. 

I tuck the picture back into the journal and shove it to the bottom of my bag. I crawl back into bed and nestle close to him, feeling the warmth of his body spread into mine. He looks peaceful on the outside with his chest rising and falling slowly, hands tucked beneath his head and a few strands of golden hair falling over his forehead. But I know that his mind is a whirlwind under his peaceful facade. 

Soon, his slow breathing lulls me to sleep, and before I know it the world goes dark before my eyes.

In my dreams, I’m holding a gun

and I’m pointing it right between Anderson’s eyebrows.


	12. Chapter 12

AARON

**3 years ago**

_ I’m sitting on the floor of my childhood home. I don’t know how long I’ve been here. It’s hard to keep track of time when you’re struggling to breathe. I don’t have the strength to keep my body up so I just let it slump against the wall. My face is wet with tears and a truck has parked on top of my chest. If I didn’t know any better, I would think I was having a heart attack.  _

_ I try and fail time and time again to collect myself, but one glance at the empty bed is enough to make myself spiral out of control again. The medical staff is gone, the multiple machines keeping her sedated are gone.  _ She  _ is gone. Gone. And I had to find out myself like this. I didn’t get a word from the doctors, not a word from my father. No one had the decency to tell me that my mother was dead. _

_ I can feel myself falling into another panic attack. I take a deep breath, bite my hand. I don’t have my medicine with me, so instead, I start to go over every technique I’ve thought myself to prevent it. I take deep breaths, counting the seconds it takes me to fill my lungs with air and then the seconds it takes me to release it all. I repeat the motion until my heart is no longer beating in my ears. I’m still not strong enough to stand, all the energy I had has been drained out of me.  _

_ I don't know what else to do, so I _ _ take my phone out of my pocket. _

_ I call Ella. _

_ The phone rings a couple of times before going to voicemail. I look at the screen and notice the time, realizing that for her it’s the middle of the night and she is most likely asleep. Before I can put my phone away her name lights up the screen. I answer and bring the phone to my ear. _

_ “Aaron?” she asks, her accent thicker than usual. Must be the fact that she just woke up. Despite everything, a faint smile appears on my face. “Aaron,” she says again, making me realize that I haven’t said anything in a couple of seconds. “What is it?” _

_ And I tell her everything. _

_ Three days later every Supreme Commander and their offsprings are in Sector 45, all dressed in black for my mother’s funerary service. I can’t stand the Supremes’ fake sympathy as they approach me to give their condolences. I can’t stand the pity of their children.  _

_ Ella’s been staying back as she always does when we’re all together like this. She’s been trying to catch my eye but I can’t face her yet, I know I’ll break down again if I do. Just feeling her emotions is almost too much for me to handle right now. So I try to ignore her as much as I can for the rest of the day.  _

_ Once the service is over, half of the Supreme families go back to their respective homes, my father included. He didn’t waste a second after the funeral was over before climbing back into his jet and leaving to the Capital. The other half has retired to their sleeping quarters for the night. _

_ I’m sitting on my office floor, legs pressed to my chest. I can feel her when she comes into my room. Seconds later the door to my office opens slowly. She doesn’t say anything. She just walks slowly and sits next to me, wrapping her arms around me. When she does, tears start flowing down my face again. It’s the first time someone has touched me since my mother died. She presses a kiss to my hair, and unable to stop myself I let my head fall into her lap. I wrap my arms around her waist and she envelops me with her body. _

_ We stay like that for a long time. She doesn’t let go until I stop shaking. _

_ I barely notice when light creeps in from the window until she whispers “I have to go. Promise me you’re going to be okay. Promise me you’ll talk to me.” _

_ I can only nod and pull her against my chest one more time before she walks out the door to leave once again. _

***

I wake up a few hours later feeling disoriented. Even with the heavy sleepiness induced by my anxiety medicine, I do not feel rested. My entire body aches and my mind seems to not be responding properly. I had forgotten how strong the effects of the pills were. It had been a long time since I needed to take one. I had trained myself in different techniques to prevent myself from spiraling at every unfortunate event I’d come to face in my life.

But now it seemed I was back at the bottom of the pit of self-pity and regret.

I look down at Ella who’s sleeping with her head in my chest. Even in her sleep, I can feel her anger and her worry and her love for me. Her emotions are a weight over me I would happily asphyxiate under. I can feel everything so so deeply. I would recognize her with my eyes shut in a room of a thousand people. 

I love her. I love her so much sometimes it doesn’t make sense. I feel my cold, tired heart grow three sizes every time she is near. I want to grab her by the hand and run off to the end of the world. Hide her from the unforgiving coldness of the world. And to know that she feels the same way about me it’s the greatest miracle in the world. It fills my heart with joy to know how much she wants to protect me, ever since we were little. She was only a child when she first saw the scars on my back and promised me that she would kill my father for what he’d done. She doesn’t know it, but that promise had meant everything to me. No one had ever gone against my father, not for everything he did to me, and not for what he was doing to my mom, something I always suspected everyone knew. And yet there she was, so small and full of anger and her eyes filled with tears promising me that she would tear my father’s heart out.

And I deserve none of it.

I deserve not her love, not her kindness, not even a second glance from her. Not after everything I’ve had to do, all the pain I have inflicted. 

And yet here she is, asleep in my arms, face still contorted in anguish and anger after seeing me fall apart. I run my hand lightly through her hair undoing some of the tangles that have formed, careful not to wake her. Just that small contact releases and an incredible amount of stress from my body, and it seems as from her too. I repeat the motion a couple of times until the muscles of her face relax. I watch her sleep for I don’t know how long. Part of me sometimes still believes that one day I’m going to wake up alone to realize that all of this was a cruel terrible lie concocted by my own brain to trick me into feeling something again. Every time I have to remind myself that she is here. That what she feels for me is real. So real I can feel it deep in my bones. 

I remember myself a few years ago, longing so desperately for her. Wanting and burning and yearning so much to be able to take her into my arms and being so afraid that she’d push me away. Being so afraid that somehow what I felt for her would hurt her. I knew it was clear as day for my father how much I loved and care for her, and I knew how he saw her as my weakness. I knew he thought weaknesses should be destroyed. I knew he would take each and every chance he could get to hurt her, to make _ me _ hurt her. And I tried and tried and failed so miserably to distance myself from her. To give her space hoping that she would grow tired of waiting for something that was never going to happen and walk away. I wanted her to walk away from me because I knew I never could.

And then she showed up in my office so hurt and tortured and unsure asking me if I was dating someone else. As if I could ever love any other than her. Somehow my worst nightmare and my greatest fantasy became real that night. She told me we had to put a stop to whatever there was between us. It was what I had wanted her to do. Yet when she did it my heart broke into a million pieces and I begged for her to mend it. I laid myself bare for her and pleaded for a chance to make it work. 

And she threw herself down into that chance with me.

It had been the happiest years of my life after that. 

After losing my mother when I couldn’t do anything to help her, Ella had been a speck of light at the end of a dark tunnel. 

The hope that, even after all my failures, there was something I had done right. 

I would do everything to protect it. 

Ella’s eyes flutter open pulling me back up from the dark corners of my mind. “Hey,” she says, her voice heavy with sleep. “You’ve been up for long?”

I shake my head no. “Only for a little.”

“Are you feeling better?” she asks.

“Yes,” I say trying to sound convincing. “You’re right, they’re in a better place now.”

She sits up a little resting her weight on her elbow. “I know it’s not a nice thing to talk about,” she says, “but I wish you would’ve told me about Fletcher before. I know how these kinds of things can get to you.”

I shake my head again. “I don’t want you to have to worry about me.”

“I’m always going to worry about you, Aaron.”

“I know, and that’s why I’ll always try not to burden you with it.”

She cups my face with her palm and looks at me with those blue-green eyes, like the globe. “When are you going to understand that it’s not a burden for me to care about you?” she asks. “ I love you. More than anything. You are never a burden.”

I lean closer, put my forehead to hers. “And I love you,” I say. “With everything that I am.”

She lets herself fall into me, burying her face in the crook of my neck. I wrap my arms around her small frame. Breathe her in. We stay like than for I don’t know how long. We let the world keep turning and let life keep moving forward without us. We can catch up with it later. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually really proud of this chapter and I think it's my favorite one so far. Do y'all have a favorite part?? anything you wish to see??  
> Just comment something so I don't feel like I'm screaming into the void.


	13. Chapter 13

**ELLA**

A nightmare startles me awake. 

Wires protruding from my body, my parents yelling at me to control my power, a man telling me I’m a fraud, telling me to run away, the man dying in my arms. 

Only when my eyes shoot open I realize Aaron is calling my name. “Love,” he says, “you’re awake. Breathe.”

I bring a hand to my chest feeling my heart beating fast against it. I take a slow, deep breath. Count the seconds ticking on my mind

one

tw o

t h r e e

f o u r

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I shiver. “Yeah. Just a nightmare.”

He runs a hand through my hair. “You want to talk about it?”

I shake my head no. “Nothing new,” I lie. “What a day we’re having you and I,” I say, a failed attempt at humor. 

“You’re sure everything is okay?” concern stitched into his face.

“Yes, Aaron. Don’t worry.” I lean towards him and press his lips against mine to draw him away from this conversation. He kisses me back for a moment, putting his hand on the small of my back. “I know what you’re trying to do,” he says, pulling away from me just enough to be able to talk.

“Is it working?” I ask, leaning down towards him again, pressing a kiss to his jaw, another one to his lips.

He captures my lips between his before pushing me away. “No,” he says as I whimper. “But we should get ready, so I’ll let it go.”

“Rude.”

He stands up and walks into the closet as I fall backward into the bed. I’m still tired, but I know I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep even if I tried. I can never sleep after a nightmare.

Aaron walks out a few minutes later in a pair of black slacks and a white button-up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows exposing his forearms. I’m just noticing that his hair is slightly damp. He must’ve taken a shower while I was still sleeping. With a groan, I drag myself out of bed and towards the bathroom. After I’m done freshening up I go and get dressed. I look through some of the clothes that Aaron has here for me. With all that he’s got me, I probably have a bigger wardrobe here than I have back home, but I rarely use any of it. They’re all mostly dresses and high-fashion stuff that I really have no use for here, but he insists on getting anyway. Sometimes I try them on just to humor him; but other than the sweaters and jeans, most of the clothes have remained untouched. Ever since I manifested I’ve been forced into clothes that cover every inch of my skin. Aaron never forces me to wear anything that I don’t want to wear, but still, it’s usually cold in North America, and it’s probably best that his soldiers don’t see me get too comfortable around him. 

But I feel like wearing something different today. As I search, a dress catches my attention from the racks. It’s a simple pale pink dress with short sleeves and a v-cut that goes just an inch below my clavicle. It goes down to my calf, but it’s still probably the most unclothed I’ve been in a while. Nevertheless, I allow myself to wear this dress today, we’re not going anywhere anyway.

I bet he’ll be pleased. 

Before leaving to join Aaron in his office I fish my phone out of my suitcase. I have a text from Emmaline.

Emma: how is everything going? love you xx

A small smile forms on my lips. I shoot a quick text back.

Ella: it’s all good, not ready to go back yet tho. Love you too xo

I put my phone back inside my bag and smooth the wrinkles out of my dress. Aaron suddenly pops back inside the closet. “Hey, love,” he says. “There is a meeting I have to attend in five minutes, shouldn’t take long. Will you be okay here on your own?”

“I’m a big girl, Aaron,” I say back. “I can entertain myself.”

He smiles and takes a look at what I’m wearing, his eyes having a road trip up and down my body, making stops at certain parts to enjoy the view. “You look beautiful,” he says. “You always look beautiful. Have I told you that?”

I do a little twirl for him. I feel silly when I do it and start to regret it as soon as I do it, but Aaron smiles making me feel better about it. “One or...two hundred times,” I say.

“Not enough then.”

He closes the distance between us and presses a feather-like kiss to my lips, another one to the tip of my nose, a last one in my forehead. 

“Glad you like the dress,” I say.

He smiles at me cupping my cheek with his left hand. “Delalieu will bring you breakfast in a few minutes. I’ll be back soon, okay?”

I nod. “Bye.”

With that, he walks away and out of the room. 

***

**AARON**

After two excruciatingly long and monotonous hours, I’m finally back in my office. Usually, I could get through dozens of this meetings without batting an eye, but when Ella is here I have to restrain myself from putting a bullet in the head of whoever is causing the meeting to take more than necessary. Right now she is sitting on my desk with her legs propped up on a second chair in front of her. She’s reading through one of the files I didn’t read yesterday, a few more lay in the desk covered in sticky notes and tabs, indicating that she also went through those already. “Got any notes for me?” I ask.

She looks up, lifting the file in her hands and waving it around, “Squad 12 reporting on the status of the broken tank and the repairs it’s getting,” she says with a sigh. “How was your meeting?”

“Not much more interesting than that,” I say walking towards her. I lift her legs from the chair and sit down letting her feet fall on my lap. I run my fingers up and down her exposed skin, marveling the softness. I can feel a warm feeling expanding in her, and therefore me. 

“I’ve been thinking about something,” she says, some of that warmth being replaced by nervousness. 

I don’t want her to feel nervous about telling me anything so I try to sound assuring when I ask “What is it, my love?”

She takes a deep breath. “I want to tell Emma about us.”

 _Ah._ I see now where her nervousness came from. “I knew this moment would come,” I say. “Honestly I’m surprised you kept the secret from her this long.”

She takes my hand that was resting on her legs between hers. “I just...I wasn’t sure I could completely trust her before, I thought that the hold my parents had on her was stronger. But she’s been.. _.different_ lately.”

“Different how?”

“I don’t know...” she says. “She _defended_ me the other day. She’s basically the reason why my mother let me come in the first place. I know it doesn’t seem like much but... ”

“I understand, love. She’s your sister and she loves you.”

“But are you okay with me telling her?”

“I’ll admit that someone else knowing does make me feel somewhat uncomfortable, but I know Emmaline wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. And I’ve told you before, love, I trust you. And if you trust her then so do I.”

“That would probably mean telling her about your powers too.”

“And I’m sure she knows what that would mean for me as well as you do if anyone else finds out.”

She swallows. “Are you sure you are okay with it? You know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”

“I know, love. That’s why I know you wouldn’t do it if you weren’t sure.”

She nods gratefully. “Okay,” she hesitates. “I still won’t tell her about the other unnatural though. I just...she’s too close to The Reestablishment.”

I nod. “That’s probably for the best.”

I stare at her for a few seconds, I feel a newfound hope coming from her. It makes me happy to see that she has more people to rely on. She should be able to find some sort of peace in her own home, and I’m glad her sister can be it for her. 

After a few seconds of looking at her, I ask the question I’ve been dreading since the moment she arrived. “Does this means that you have to leave soon?”

Her expression turns sad. “Soon...but not just yet.”

We spend the next two days just like this, reading through files, her going through my book and music collection when she gets bored. Us training together in the morning and walking around the Sector. Her writing in her journal when I had to go to meetings. Tangled in each other at night and until early hours of the morning.

Before I know it we’re standing back in the hangar, Ella back in a long-sleeved button-up shirt and gloves. We’ve said our proper goodbyes before leaving my room; now we’re back to formalities. 

“It was very nice to see you, Commander,” Ella says. “I hope I didn’t overstay my visit.”

“Of course not, Miss Sommers. It was nice seeing you too, and you were of great help here.”

“That’s good to hear...I shall hope to see you again soon.”

I nod. “Take care, miss Sommers”

She steps back inside her jet, a soldier closes the door behind her. Moments later I’m watching the jet take off and fly away, taking half of my soul with it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DID YOU KNOW that you can read a tiny sample of Reveal Me (Kenji's novela) on the ibook's app? I found out snooping around and thought to share this discovery with y'all.


	14. Chapter 14

**ELLA**

I can’t help the empty feeling that sits in my chest every time I leave Aaron behind. It’s been only a few hours but I already miss him. Electricity is still coursing through my body from what we’ve done last night. It had been hard and fast and desperate and slow and tender all at the same time. I could still hear him gasping my name into my neck when I closed my eyes, his breath hot against my skin.

But it’s not only the thoughts of him that plague my mind on the way back home. As good as Aaron was as a distraction from the events of last week, the moment I stepped into the jet I couldn’t stop thinking about Private Cameron and the things he said. What he was and what that meant not only for me but for the future of the Reestablishment. The possibility of there being more Unnaturals out there, that maybe they had their own resistance…

I didn’t know what to think of it.

I also thought about Emmaline, how different she’d been this last couple of days. The hope in her eyes when she told me we would change things. I also thought about what it would mean to tell her about Aaron and I. I hoped that not having to lie to her anymore would make things a little bit easier. But most of all, as foolish as it was, I hoped that she would be happy for me. I wanted to be able to talk about this kind of things with my sister. Pretend, just for a little, that we had a normal life. 

The tires of the jet hitting the ground snap me out of my contemplation. This time there’s no one to receive me when I step outside. My usual driver takes me home, the entire ride is silent. I think the house it’s empty when I first walk in so I go upstairs to my room to drop my bag and wash my face. I go down to the kitchen looking for something light to eat before going to bed, but when I walk in I see Emmaline sitting on the kitchen island. “Oh,” she says. 

“You’re back.”

“Hey,” I respond. “Sorry, I thought no one was home.”

“Mom and dad left for the capital a few days ago.”

A weights drops from my shoulders, making me realize just how tense I was. “Oh. They didn’t make you go with them?”

“No, private business,” she says making some air quotes with her fingers.

I nod.

“But how about you?” she asks. “How was your escapade? Got your mind off things?”

“Yeah,” I say suddenly shy and nervous. I open my mouth to try and tell her what I’ve been meaning for the last couple of days, but before I can she asks: “Want to watch a movie? You’re not too tired right?”

The question throws me slightly off balance. “A movie?”

“Yeah. I got a secret stash in my room. We haven’t watched a movie in years, and we have the house to ourselves,” she says looking around her. “What do you say?”

Ten minutes later we’re sitting on the living room floor, our backs against the couch, watching the movie adaptation of _Pride & Prejudice. _I remember reading the book a few years ago, but I have to admit the movie is quite beautiful. The scenery and the costumes and the emotions on everyone’s faces make it truly stunning. I forgot just how emotive movies could be. We watch in silence how Elizabeth makes many assumptions about Mr. Darcy that lead her to reject his affections, and how eventually his character is proven different to what she believes and how she starts to fall for him. I watch mesmerized how Mr. Darcy walks, probably very underdressed for that time, through the misty field and how Elizabeth takes his hands between hers and presses a gentle kiss to them. A moment later, the credits start to roll and I hear Emmaline sigh. I wonder how many times she’s secretly watched this movie, I never really took her for a romantic. 

“Can I tell you something and you promise not to tell?” I ask, surprising her and myself. 

“What is it, Ella?”

“Promise not to tell first.”

“That serious then?”

I nod. My eyes tear up a little, even though I’m unsure why. 

Emmaline’s expression becomes worried. “What is it?” she whispers. 

I start to fidget with my hands, I can feel my heart beating in my throat. “Aaron and I...” I say slowly, barely above a whisper. “We’re...together.”

She stays quiet for a while. I’m beginning to doubt if she even heard me. “Emma?” I ask.

“I see,” she says in an eerily calm voice.

“Are you mad at me?”

“No,” she says, crosses her legs, sits up straighter. “I’m...surprised. How? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Well,” I respond, looking up to the ceiling to prevent the tears that welled up in the eyes to spill. “Turns out I can touch him.”

“What?” she asks, her eyes wide. “Since when?”

“Since...always. We found out when I was five.”

“WHAT?” she yells. 

“Emma...”

“You’ve kept the secret this whole time?” she snaps. She is suddenly on her feet pacing around.

“I had to! You know what they would do to him if they found out.”

Her expression turns grim, she stops walking. “Yeah...I know. He has it bad enough already with that father of his.”

I don’t say anything for a while, letting the news sink in.

“So...he has powers too?”

“Yeah,” I say. “Some sort of immunity to other powers? That’s what we think at least.”

She sits back down in front of me crossing her legs. She rubs her chin inquisitively. “I see now why you made me promise.”

“You’re not going to say anything, right?”

“Are you crazy, Ella? They’ll kill you if they find out, of course I’m not saying anything.”

I let all the air of my body until I deflate. “Thank you,” I say. “Really.”

She nods. “So...how long has this been going on?”

I was hoping she didn’t ask that. I consider lying, but I don’t see the point of it anymore. “Two years.”

“TWO YEARS?”

“Can you please stop yelling at me?” I wince.

She huffs shaking her head. “Since my birthday, right? After the Lena thing.”

“Yeah.”

“That explains a lot, actually. Really don’t know how I didn’t see it coming.”

I bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them releasing a weak laugh.

“You’re not only dating him because you happen to be able to touch him, right?” she asks. 

I shake my head. “No, it’s...much more than that.”

She raises her eyebrows at me expectantly. 

I sigh trying to find the words to describe my feelings for him. “There was something about him, ever since we were little, that always made me feel so safe. It was so easy to talk to him, I knew things about Aaron that no one else knew and...I felt like I could tell him all my secrets too. Then we grew up and I realized that he was one of the only people that really respected and cared for my opinion. He was never afraid of me.” I look up at Emmaline but she’s looking down at her hands. I continue “He doesn’t just see me as what I can do or treats me different for it. He has never tried to protect himself or others against me or use me against others. He sees me as more than a weapon and yet thinks that I’m strong and capable of doing incredible things even when I don’t think so myself.” I can feel myself tear up. “He’s proud of me...”

“So, not just his gorgeous eyes?” asks Emmaline, her voice thick with emotion too. 

I laugh shaking my head trying to compose myself. “It’s hard to explain, there’s just so many things that he sees in me that I feel that no one else ever does,” I’m fully crying now, my words coming out as a ramble. “And he’s kind even though he tries to hide it, and passionate, and he’s been fighting his entire life and he’s somehow still standing after everything that’s happened and he thinks he’s a bad person for doing the things he had to do to survive and doesn’t realize all the good he’s done, all the good he tries to do.”

Emmaline reaches across the space between us and puts a hand on my leg. “You really do love him then.”

“So much,” I whisper. 

She nods. Sighs. “I mean I think it’s always been obvious, but hearing you say it makes it...real.”

“I know what you mean.”

Emmaline smiles. After a while, she asks with a slightly mischievous voice: “You too are taking care right?” 

It takes me a moment to realize what she means, then it hits me. My eyes widen. “God, Emma...”

“What?” she asks. “You really expect me to believe that you’ve been obsessed with each other for God knows how long, been secretly dating for _two years_ , that you can _touch_ him no less, and that you’re _not_ having sex with him?”

I feel a warm flush creeping into my face. “No,” I say after a moment. “Didn’t have to mention it, though.”

“Hey,” she says. “I’m just looking after my little sister.”

“Whatever.”

“Are you taking the necessary precautions then?” she says nudging me.

“Yes! Okay?” I say exasperated and embarrassed. When I imagined talking about this with her I didn’t exactly picture her asking about my sex life. “He takes care of it. We didn’t want to risk anyone finding out I was taking some form of birth control.”

“Yeah, I see how that’d be suspicious.”

“An understatement.”

Emmaline runs a hand through her hair. “Why tell me now?” she asks, her voice serious again. “After so long.”

I consider it for a moment, thinking about the change I’ve seen in her. “You’ve been different lately. Hopeful?” I shrug. “I just thought I could trust you with it.”

She smiles at me. “I’m glad you did.”

“Can I ask what changed?” I ask, looking down into my hands, suddenly afraid to meet her gaze.

“You.”

I look up at that. “What do you mean?”

She sighs, moves a little closer to me. “I thought that you didn’t care anymore. You seemed very...cold. Indifferent. But then that incident with the soldier happened, and seeing you that upset about it made me realize that it wasn’t too late. Not for us.”

I try to laugh a little, but only small, broken sound comes out. “Do you still think we can change the world?”

“I think we can do anything together.”

Her words make me strangely emotional, and even though I’ve loved having this moment of sincerity and closeness with her again, after so long, I don’t think I can handle any more emotions today. I give her a small smile and I stand up, my legs wobbling after being on the floor for so long. “I’m going to go to bed,” I say. “I’m tired, had a long trip.”

She nods. “Goodnight, Ella.”

“Goodnight, Emma.”

I climb up to my room and into my bed. I pull out my phone from my bag that lays next to me. I send a quick text to Aaron.

Ella: I told her everything. We’re safe. I love you.

I don’t wait for him to answer, I just drop the phone on my bedside table, close my eyes and doze off to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i start junior year of college in a week guys, i can't do this i'm baby


	15. Chapter 15

**ELLA**

A few days go by and our parents are yet to return from the Capital, but I’m not complaining. I had forgotten how it felt to be comfortable in my own home. 

Even though Emmaline has been busy since I returned, I could feel a change in the relationship between us. It was easy-going. More easy-going than it had been since before our powers manifested. It was like we were just too normal girls, going on about their day-to-day life. We laughed. We talked about things that didn’t matter. We pretended that we were different people. From time to time, she even made suggestive comments about me and Aaron, which was certainly unexpected. But as much as her teasing made me blush uncomfortably, I was glad to be able to talk to my sister like this. I didn’t realize the incredible weight I was carrying until it was gone. 

Right now, we were having breakfast on the kitchen island, sitting together on a comfortable silence. I didn’t want to disturb the energy we had going on, so I kept eating my eggs in silence until she broke it.

“It’s good to see you like this,” she says, a small smile on her lips.

I think I know what she means, but I ask anyway. “‘Like this’ how?”

She shrugs. “Happy. Light.”

“It’s easy—easier at least—to be happy when their not around.”

Her face falls a little and dread falls over me like a blanket making me regret mentioning our parents. I’m about to change the subject to something happier and lighter, like she said; but before I can think of anything she says: “I know, it’s hard. I guess we just have to take happiness from where we can in times like this,” she says, smiling a little again. “I’m glad you have places—people—you can take happiness from. You deserve that.”

“You’re one of those people, you know that right?” I ask softly.

She nods. “You are for me too.”

She places a hand on my arm, her skin protected by the fabric of my sweater. “It’ll get better,” she says. “I promise.”

“Mhmm.”

“Do you believe me?”

_Maybe._

“Yes.”

She smiles. “Good.” She stands up and drops her plate into the sink. “I have to go back to base now,” she says checking her wristwatch. “See you tonight.”

I nod. “Bye.”

After waving me goodbye she walks out the door. I can hear the engine of the car as it drives away, the gravel being crushed under the tires. 

When I’m done with my breakfast I go back upstairs to my room. Here, unlike in Sector 45 where I at least can help Aaron with some of his work, there’s nothing for me to do if I’m not torturing someone. My parents don’t trust me with any Reestablishment files and they’ve told Emmaline to not let me close to whatever she’s doing. Sometimes she tells me some of the plans she has or how her training is going but I rather not ask about it, fearing that our parents will somehow find out. 

So most of the time, when I’m not busy with training or tutoring, I sit alone in my room reading through novels long ago banned by the Reestablishment. 

I think about calling Aaron, we haven’t talked much since I returned. The biannual Continental Symposium was coming and Anderson had decided to host the North American leg in Sector 45 instead of the Capital this year, leaving Aaron up to the neck with preparations. I saw multiple files about it on his desk, discussing everything from budget plans to seatings charts and a list of speeches. I wished I could’ve been there for a little longer to help him with some of the work; but even if I did, I don’t have enough knowledge about their event to be truly useful, and there was close to nothing I could do from here. Instead of calling and interrupting his workflow I send him a quick text.

Ella: Hello, darling, hope everything is going well, please don’t work yourself to death okay? I love you.

He answers a few minutes later. 

Aaron: I can’t promise anything. 

Ella: >:(

Aaron: I’m sorry, sweetheart, there’s just a lot to do.

Ella: I know, i’m sorry, i won’t distract you anymore!!

Aaron: You are always a welcomed distraction.

Ella: good to know, love you, talk to you soon

Aaron: I love you too. 

As I put my phone back under my bed I hear a car driving up to the curve. Maybe Emmaline forgot something.

I make my way downstairs, and just as I’m about to call Emmaline’s name my parents walk through the door. My body feels heavier instantly. The comfort I had found inside these walls the last couple of days dissipates into thin air. I cross my arms reflexively, hiding my exposed hands from them. 

“You’re back,” my father says, more a statement than a welcome. 

“Yeah,” I say. “So are you.”

“Not for long,” he says back, but before I get a chance to ask anything about it my mother says: “How was your...vacation?” with the slightest sneer behind it. 

“Good.”

“Hmm,” she says, pursing her lips when she does. 

Whatever she says or doesn’t say won’t make me feel bad about leaving. 

The chauffeur comes in with their bags and leaves them by the door, he exits after they dismiss him closing the door behind him. My father walks towards the living room, setting down the files he’s carrying in the coffee table as my mother drops the house keys on the kitchen counter. I remain standing in the stairs, as far away from them as I can. 

“So,” I say. “You’re leaving again?”

“We all are,” my father continues.

“Oh?”

“Paris has extended an invitation to us to attend the Symposium this year.”

I furrow my brow. I thought Anderson didn’t make public appearances, so the logistic of this invitation confuses me. “That’s...kind of him,” I say, it comes out more as a question. “Any particular reason?”

“We have some matters to discuss and he thought to invite us over,” my mother answers. “It’ll be good to hear about the progress that’s been made in North America, don’t you think?”

_Progress. Alright._

“Sure,” I say, sounding less convinced than I intended too. “Aren’t you busy enough planning for our own event?”

“Oh, don’t sound so down about it. We’ve been working really hard on our Symposium of course, and it’s a few days after the North American one, so we have plenty of time to return o our event. Besides, their continent is way bigger than Oceania, I wonder how they manage to keep the leaders of 555 sectors in check.” she says, a venomous smile starts to spread across her lips. “And you’ll get to see your dear boy again soon. Aren’t you glad?” 

With that, she turns around and walks downstairs to the lab, calling my father behind her. I stay where I am for a while thinking. An immense feeling of dread starts to expand inside my body until it chokes me. The idea of being in Sector 45 again with my parents it’s enough to get me on edge, but this is more than that. I’m sure nothing good will come out of this Symposium. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the filler chapter, but more exciting things are happening soon, promise!!


	16. Chapter 16

**ELLA**

Nazeera: rumor has it that you’re attending the north american symposium

the text on my phone screen reads. _Am I the last one to find out?_

Ella: yes...how you know?

Nazeera: you know anderson likes to run his mouth

Ella: tell me about it

Ella: do you think i should wear a bulletproof vest under my clothes?

After a few moments she answers:

Nazeera: i know you’re joking but maybe you should, habibi

I sigh. Another text appears on my screen, this time from Aaron.

Aaron: You’re really coming to the Symposium?

Ella: yeah, should I be worried?

Aaron: About my father?

Ella: …

Aaron: I don’t know what he has in mind, but I won’t let anything happen to you.

Ella: I know, i guess i’ll see you soon

**AARON**

I kept telling myself that everything was going to be alright, but I’m worried. This was going to be the first time Ella and I were going to be under the same roof as my father since we started dating. The fact that he willingly invited her here unnerves me. He has never been happy about the amount of time we spend together, and to my knowledge, he isn’t even aware of half of those instances. My soldiers know to be discreet about it. 

I put my phone down after talking to Ella and continue with my work. Preparing for the Symposium is always a great deal of work, especially now that my father has decided to host it here, even though he will not show his face in it. He is set to arrive tonight and Delalieu is running himself into a wall trying to get all the necessary preparations ready. His anxiety visibly increasing when I informed him that he’d also had to arrange accommodations for Evie, Max and their daughters. I felt sorry for him, but I didn’t have time to alleviate his pain since, I too, was painfully busy. 

The thought of seeing Ella again, even though the situation was less than favorable, keeps me going through the rest of the day. 

***

We all meet in the dining room. 

My father sits at the head of the table, a glass of Scotch on his hands as I greet the guests. I had managed to avoid him all day, but now that the other Supreme has arrived I had no option but to come out of hiding. I wish I could’ve had a private moment with Ella to greet her properly, instead, she stands besides Emmaline behind her parents. Her gloved hands crossed in front of her. 

“Evie,” I say formally. “Welcome. I hope your accommodations are up to your standards, we had to arrange them rather hastily.”

“Aaron,” she says, a warm smile on her face. I can feel how much she despises me. “You’ve grown. And yes—” she shakes her head dismissively, “our accommodations will suffice. We’re not staying long, either way, we have to be back in a couple of days for our Symposium.”

“That’s a shame,” I say, gesturing for them to take a sit. “Let’s enjoy the time we have together then.”

Emmaline nods at me from behind her parents’ backs. We’ve never been close, but I can sense a new sort of respect coming from her. I nod back at her, turning my eyes to Ella, but she’s already looked away.

They all move to sit. It’s a six-person table, meant for more intimate meetings such as this one. I take the chair left to my father, Evie sits down on the opposite side of my father and Maximilian next to her. Emmaline sits on the other side of her mother and Ella next to her father, which puts her directly in front of me and next to my father. I’m not a fan of the sitting arrangement, but I suppose it’s better than having her sitting next to me. 

My father calls for dinner to be served and gestures his hands at Evie and Maximillian. “I’m glad you could join us,” he says. “This is certainly more exciting than our regular business meetings isn’t it.”

“Of course,” Maximillian responds. “I’ve never attended a Symposium outside of Oceania. I’m eager to see how this side of the world handles it.”

“I’m sure it’s not too different,” Emmaline says, a polite smile on her face. She’s always been better at diplomacy than the rest of her family.

The door to the dining room opens and a couple of servers come in strolling carts carrying our dinner. We continue making conversation about future plans of the Reestablishment in North America and Oceania alike, it doesn’t escape me that they don’t mention whatever business they meant to discuss during their stay. Ella doesn’t say a word either, it’s not suspicious since she doesn’t usually speak in these kinds of meetings anyway. After three different dishes, my father puts down his arms on the table sighing, “It’s been too long since we’ve all gathered together like this,” he says. “It feels like just yesterday we were in those early Reestablishment meeting. But now look at you,” he says waving his hand at Ella and Emmaline. “You’re all grown up. Flourished into your abilities.” 

I can’t help but wince at that. I see Ella swallow too. Emmaline just releases a small chuckle. “That’s very kind of you, Commander Anderson,” she says. “I suppose it has been a while.”

“Perhaps we should get all the kids together again one of these days, no Evie?”

She chuckles and takes a sip of wine. 

“What do you say, Ella?” my father asks, looking at her intently. It makes me want to hide her from him. 

“Slumber parties aren’t my thing, I’m afraid,” she responds, not looking up from her almost empty plate. 

“Could’ve fooled me,” answers my father, bringing the Scotch glass to his lips.

I can feel Ella’s fear creeping up. My father’s anger coming closer to the surface.

“I think we’re all too busy for that now, father,” I say, trying to pry his attention away from her.

“Not _too_ busy, right?” he asks.

The door to the dining room opens again. I’ve never been so grateful for desert before. 

After the servers leave one again Emmaline takes charge of the conversation, talking about projects she is excited to be working on. I can feel a little bit of relief coming from Ella. 

What feels like an eternity later, dinner is over and everyone begins to stand up. Ella excuses herself before anyone has a chance to hold her back for another moment, Emmaline following close behind her. 

***

I go back to my office, weary and exhausted after dinner. I sit down in my desk and start going over the final preparations for tomorrow, making sure everything is ready to go. Not long passes until the door opens, revealing my father on the other side. He strolls down the room casually and sits on the chair on the other side of the desk, crossing his legs and throwing his head back. His cool demeanor does nothing to hide how furious he actually is from me. “Lovely dinner we had, don’t you think?” he asks. 

“Yes, sir,” I say, not caring if he meant that as a hypothetical question.

“Quite rude of your _beloved_ to leave without properly saying goodnight,” he says with an emphatic sneer at the word “beloved”. I can’t help but wince at it, feeling like he just caught me in all my lies. I force myself to relax, it is not uncommon for him to refer to her in such ways, though he usually uses less kind words. “Maybe someone should teach her some manners,” he continues.

“If you dislike her presence so much why did you invite her?” I ask.

“I like to observe every once in a while,” he says quietly. Then “Though I’ll admit, I’d be more willing to look past her insolence if she wasn’t such a distraction to you.”

“She’s not—”

“Come on, son,” he interrupts. “All the time you waste with her when you should be working—”

“Why is it such a problem for you that I spend time with her?” I ask. “We all see each other from time to time yet you’ve never complained about me _wasting_ time with anyone else. Isn’t this what you wanted anyway? For us to build _political alliances_? Why is it different than when you wanted Lena to—”

“But she’s more than that isn’t she?” he asks, his voice grave and provoking. I do nothing more than stare at him. “She was never a political alliance to you.”

“Why does it matter what she is to me?”

He shakes his head, “Because she was never meant for you, son. It’s time you understand that.”

Before I can ask him what he means, he turns around and strides out of the room. Leaving me sitting back and falling into a hole of darkness. 

**ELLA**

I walk into Emmaline and I’s shared room, falling into my bed and letting out a muffled scream into my pillow.

I can feel the bed deep beside me. Two pats across my shoulder blades. “There, there,” she says. 

I turn around facing up, angry tears spilling from my eyes. “Why does he hate me?” I ask. “What _the fuck_ did I ever do to him?”

Emmaline seems to consider it for a second. “You mean other than render his perfect robot of a son perfectly useless?”

“He could never be useless.”

“You know what I mean.”

I let out an exasperated breath. “I’m fine,” I say, wiping my face with the back of my hands. “I’m fine.”

Emmaline doesn’t look convinced. 

“Do you think they’ll find it suspicious if they find him with a broken neck at the bottom of the stairs in the morning?”

She laughs a little. “I wouldn’t blame you,” she says. “But I don’t think that’d be very wise, unfortunately.”

I sit up on the bed reaching past Emmaline to grab my bag. I rummage through it until I feel my phone, pulling it out and unlocking the screen. “What are you doing?” Emmaline asks.

“I just want to make sure that Aaron’s okay.”

I send him a quick text.

Ella: are you alright?

He doesn’t respond for a while, which makes me think that he’s probably still with Anderson. The thought of it fills me with dread. 

“Hey,” Emmaline says softly. “It’s all going to be okay, okay? We’ll be out of here soon.”

I sigh. Nod.

“I’m going to take a shower and get ready for bed,” she says standing up from my bed, grabbing her bag and walking to the bathroom attached to our room.

I sit in bed for a while, watching my phone screen intently, waiting for it to light up. When the water of the shower stops running, it finally does.

Aaron: Yes, love. Sorry it took so long for me to answer, he just left.

Ella: that’s okay, i just wanted to see how you were

Aaron: And how are you?

The bathroom door opens, Emmaline walks back into the room in a lilac pair of silk pajamas. 

“Should I go to him?” I ask.

Emmaline shrugs. “I don’t know,” she says. “For what?”

“I just want to talk to him for a little, without all of the...you know.” I say, waving my hands at the general area around me.

“Just be careful if you do,” she says. “Tension is high enough already.”

I look down at my phone again.

Ella: been better

Ella: is it okay if I come over? (you can say no)

Aaron: Yes, love. Just be careful, it’s not just my soldiers here tonight

With that, I jump out of bed, sliding my shoes on grabbing my sweater. “I’ll be back soon,” I promise. 

“I won’t wait up for you.” 

***

It takes me a little longer than usual getting to Aaron’s room, but I had to avoid every soldier I encountered. Just when I’m about to turn the knob on his door, I hear something behind me, like someone tripping on the carpet. I turn around startled, but there’s no one there. I walk down the hallway again, looking to both sides, but not a single soul is around. Maybe my paranoia was getting the better of me.

Before another soldier has a chance to appear, I slip quietly into Aaron’s room.

Once inside, I look around for him but he isn’t in his bedroom. 

“In here, love,” I hear him call from his office. _Of course he felt me come in._

I walk up to where he is sitting on the couch, settling beside him. I fold my hand on my lap, but he takes on of them, brings it to his lips. “I’m sorry about tonight,” he says. 

“Don’t worry about it, I kind of saw it coming.”

He sets my hand down on his lap, not letting go of it.

“Does he know anything?” I ask, my heart beating a nervous, erratic beat. 

“It’s never been a secret—for anyone I think—how I feel about you...but no, he doesn’t know anything. At least I don’t think he does.”

After a still moment of hesitation, I say with a shaky voice: “Maybe it’s better...if I stop coming for a while. Get him off your back.”

He huffs a short, bitter laugh. Shakes his head no. “Please don’t say that.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” I whisper.

“Nothing’s going to happen, love. Seeing you as little as I do is already bad enough.”

I stare at my hands, not having it in me to really fight him over this. It pains me as much as it does him being apart for so long. 

“I still mean what I said back then, Ella,” he says, interrupting my thoughts. 

“What?” I ask confused.

“That I’d go through anything if it means I can be with you.”

“That sounds a little masochist thinking about it,” I say with a shaky laugh.

He smiles a little, “Come here,” he says, pulling me into his lap.

I settle myself in his legs, burying my face into the crook of his neck. I can feel his heart beating against mine. Two steady bumps against my chest following the same rhythm. I think, no matter what, even when we’re oceans apart, his and my heart always beat the same. I lift my head up, press a kiss to his lips. His arms wrap more tightly into my body as he deepens the kiss. The last thing I want to do right now is to leave this room, but— “I told Emma I’d be quick.”

Aaron sighs. Nods once. Pushes a strand of hair away from my face. “Alright, love. See you tomorrow.”

I untangle myself from him standing up, press a final parting kiss to his temple. “Get some sleep, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

I walk out of the office, listening carefully to see if I could hear anyone outside the door before I stepped into the hallway. I make my way back into my room as quietly and as fast as I can. The whole way I can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching me, following me, even though there’s no one there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the late update. After many many hours of traveling and moving back into campus I kinda passed out while editing this chapter. Anyways, here it is, hope you enjoy! let me know what you think of this so far!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please read the note at the end of the chapter!  
> enjoy!!

**ELLA**

There’s no sign of Aaron or Anderson all morning. I wasn’t entirely expecting to see them, but I did hope to get a chance to say hi to Aaron before all the debris of the Symposium. The entire place is buzzing with energy. I had never seen so many soldiers coming in and out of the base, all running from one assignment to the other. Someone even bumped into me. Because my entire family is here, I’m forced to cover as much as my skin as possible at all times, so nothing actually happened. The touch still startled me, though. I had been walking down the hallway to meet Emmaline and my parents for breakfast, and a soldier walking on the opposite direction, without looking up from the pad he was holding, bumped into me making me jump in my own skin. He turned without looking at my face and mumbled a halfhearted “Excuse me, ma’am.”

He didn’t even realize who I was.

It’s probably for the best.

He might’ve had an actual aneurysm if he had had the time to scan my face properly. 

I snap back to the present moment when my mother calls my name. “Ella,” she says forcefully, like she had already said my name before but I didn’t respond. I’m a little distracted. “Are you listening to me?”

“Sorry,” I say. “What was it.”

She looks intently at me from the other side of the table. Her eyes shooting daggers into my body. “I was saying,” she continues, dragging out each word slowly, making sure I’m grasping each and every one of them. It makes me feel like I’m stupid, or like a child that you have to repeat the rules of conduct over and over again, “that I expect nothing but the utmost behavior from you today. This is an important event and I don’t want you fooling around.”

I truly don’t understand why she’d think that I would be nothing but entirely complacent the entire evening, but again, she never misses an opportunity to belittle me. 

“You won’t even notice I’m there,” I say.

“Good. As to you, Emmaline,” she says turning to my sister. “I want you to pay close attention to everything, just like you do back home. This event might not be under our control but that doesn’t mean we’re here for leisure, do you understand.”

“Yes, mother,” Emma says, perfectly civil as always. 

She suddenly stands up, forming the papers she had spread over the table into a pile. “I must be going,” she says. “You girls finish your breakfast, I expect to see you both there on time. Max,” she says to my father, who had been too distracted reading some sort of reports to be paying attention to the conversation. “Let’s go.”

He stands up and walks after her out of the room. Once they’re both gone with the door safely closed behind them I allow myself to say under my breath: “Fucking Christ.”

“I agree,” Emma says. “Completely unnecessary.”

“Tell me about it.” 

Just as I say that I can feel my phone buzz against my leg. I take it out to see a text from Aaron.

Aaron: Could you come to my office, please?

It is not on our private server, and that immediately gives me a bad feeling. I try not to let it show, despite my effort, Emmaline asks: “Everything okay?”

“I...yeah,” I say. “It’s Aaron.”

“What does he want?”

“I don’t know.”

Ella: everything okay?

Aaron: Yes, we just need to talk.

My stomach turns at the sight of the last text. It’s never a good thing when someone says “we need to talk.” I think back to our conversation last night. I hope he is not reconsidering things. I try to ignore the one million sirens going off in my brain, and text him back.

Ella: okay, be there soon.

I stand up, putting my phone back in my pocket. “I’ll go see what’s this about,” I say to Emmaline. “I’ll see you later.”

“Don’t be late!” she calls after me.

“Yes, _mom._ ”

“Ouch,” she says feigning hurt before I walk out of the room and into the hallways. 

There are too many soldiers for me to even try to avoid. But there’s hardly anything suspicious about me going to Aaron’s office in the middle of the morning. If anyone questions it, I can just say my parents sent me, that’ll shut them up. I open the door to his room and walk into his office.

I stop dead in my tracks.

Anderson is sitting on Aaron’s desk

my journal in one hand

a gun in the other.

“Miss Sommers,” he says cheerily. “Please sit, there’s much we need to talk about.”

**AARON**

I spend all morning in the shooting ring, desperate to leave some of the tension I had since yesterday out of my body. But no matter how many bullet cartridges fall into the ground, I don’t find any release. 

I cannot stop thinking about Ella, how small she looked at the dinner table. How afraid she felt with my my father’s jabbing at her. How useless I was, how incapable of defending her. There would have been nothing I’d enjoy more than grabbing the knife in front of me and digging it into my father’s throat. Watch him choke right in front of everyone.

I think back to all the times I tried to do just that.

Every time I would walk into his room, a gun in hand determined to shoot him, and then not being able to. My father watching me from above with a sick smile on his face, daring me to do it. He knew I wouldn’t.

I prop the guns back into the wall and walk towards the elevator. The Symposium is only a few hours away, I should be making final preparations, making sure that everything is ready to go. As soon as the elevator starts moving and I approach my quarter’s level I can feel that something is wrong. Horribly wrong.

The doors open. I see my father sitting down casually on my desk. It’s not until I step out that I see that Ella is here as well. Her eyes wide, her mouth slightly open. Her emotions are all over the place, hard for me to read mixing with my father’s and my own.

“I wish he could see himself the way I see him,” my father says out loud, snapping my attention back to him. “I hope he knows that I’d do anything to protect him.”

Just know I realize that he’s reading out loud. He’s holding a small leather-bound book in his hands. One I recognize immediately. It’s Ella’s journal. I don’t have time to wonder how he acquired it or even begin to panic before he says “How wonderfully romantic, don’t you think?”

He stands up, flipping through the pages of the journal, “Really,” he says, turning to look at Ella. “It’s all really awe-inspiring. I’m a particular fan of the parts where you describe how you wish to kill me. Very graphic. You got quite the imagination, Miss Sommers.”

“Father it’s n-” I start.

“No,” he interrupts. “Let me do the talking for now.”

I’m paralyzed. This is exactly what I told Ella, what I told myself, I’d never let happen. What we were both afraid of and what I selfishly dismissed in order to be with her. 

“For years I’ve watched the two of you fool around, and I’ve allowed it. Mostly,” he says, finally letting his anger crawl out of his body little by little. “I’ve allowed it because it keeps you-” he points at me “complacent. It keeps you working and it keeps you from _complaining about every single thing_ I ask you to do. But _this,_ ” he says through his teeth, jabbing the journal. Releases an exasperated laugh. “You’ve lied about so many things for so long. I almost feel bad for not noticing before. I’m sure Evie will be _static_ to learn about you, son.”

I try to speak but I can’t form any words. There’s nothing I can say to fix this. I feel like a child again, waiting, petrified, for my father to call me over to his office on my birthday, knowing that no one was there to help me. 

“I’ve tolerated your insolence for far too long,” he continues. “Excused your lies for too long. And honestly son, I’m tired of cleaning up your messes. You’ve made such a mess of things. Ruined the relationship with Lena that I worked in for months, and for this... _this pathetic excuse of a girl_ ,” he sneers.

“Do not speak of her like that,” I say clenching my jaw.

He laughs at my defiance. 

Everything feels heightened to the point where I’m wondering if this is nothing but a strange dream. I can feel emotions bombarding me until I feel everything and nothing all at once. I feel like my body doesn’t belong to me anymore. I’m screaming orders at it, commanding it to move. Yet it remains frozen in the spot. 

“And God, do not even get me started with your mother,”

I snap out of my stupor, reaching for a gun that isn’t there. “ _Keep them out of your mouth._ ”

He notices my movement and knows what I tried to do. He laughs again, this time a deep, throaty laugh that bubbles out of his chest. “I would love to see you try, son. How many times would this one make, eight? Nine?” he then lifts the gun he has in his hand, pointing it tight at Ella’s head. Turns at me, “I bet you wouldn’t even do anything if I put a bullet through her skull. You’re such a goddamn coward-”

Before I can react, Ella takes advantage of his distraction and launches herself forward, slapping the gun away from her. The gun fires, but it only hits the ground. With an amount of strength I haven’t seen in her before, she kicks him in the stomach making him fly back and slam against the wall, making the gun fly a couple of feet away from them. He looks startled for a second, but not for too long. Soon, his surprise turns into fury. He straightens up and throws himself at her. 

The world starts moving in slow motion as I see them both fumble to reach the gun first. I’m certain that he’ll kill her if he has the chance. And as many times as I’ve tried to end his life before and retreated at the end. But if he thinks I’m just going to stand by and watch as he tries to murder the woman I love right in front of me, he is _terribly_ mistaken. I scan the desk in front of me for something, anything, I can use as a weapon. I spot a letter opener. 

I move faster than I’ve moved in my entire life. I grab it and send it flying to the air. I watch transfixed as it spins across the distance between him and I and buries itself in his neck. He makes a choking sound, bringing a hand to his neck and turning to look at me. A wave of his emotions hit me. Surprise, rage, and most strange of all, satisfaction. He almost looks pleased that I finally acted on my desire to murder him. He drops to the ground on his knees. Ella reaches the gun. 

She turns, shoots him between his eyes. Twice. 

He falls backward.

Dead.

Once and for all.

I’m too distracted, too in shock, to realize that people are approaching until my office’s door slams open. Soldiers come pouring inside. They take a look at the scene in front of them. My father, the Supreme Commander, dead on the carpet with a letter opener in his neck and two bullets between his eyes.

Ella with a gun still in her hands.

We don’t have time to do anything before one of them lifts his gun in our direction. I feel a sharp pain in my neck. Then, I hear the thud of something falling to the floor. Then a second one. The world starts fading away as I realize that those sounds were Ella and me, falling to the ground. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry again for the late update! I was out all weekend and had no time to work on this. Also, sadly, I'll only be updating once a week from now on because I'm about to be LOADED with work and I don't think I can keep up with updating biweekly.  
> It would also be really nice if you could leave comments and/or kudos on this fic!! tell me what you're enjoying, what you are not, what you think is going to happen, or just that you're still reading!! I'm investing a lot of time on this fic and have barely gotten any feedback and it would be very nice and encouraging to have some!  
> Hope y'all have a nice day and hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	18. Chapter 18

**AARON**

I slowly come back to my senses, but once I do, it doesn’t take me long to realize that there’s someone else in the room. I turn round to see Maximilian Sommers leaning against the wall. I half expected my father to be here instead. For him have come laugh at my face for my stupidity. 

Then the realization hits me with full force. He is gone. He is truly  _ gone.  _

“Ah, good you’re awake!” says Max, pulling me from my thoughts back into this strange, unknown room. “Tell me, how are you feeling?”

_ Not up to this.  _ I stand up. “Cut the bullshit, Max,” I say. I don’t usually swear, for I rather express myself more eloquently, but the situation right now allows it. “Say what you came here to say.”

He shakes his head. “I would watch myself if I were you, Aaron,” he says pushing himself off the wall to stand up straight. “Either way, I just came to let you know what’s going to happen in the next couple of days.”

I stare at him unblinking, waiting for him to continue.

“As you know, what you and Ella have done it’s the  _ highest  _ of treason; and you are both to be executed for it.”

I still. Ice water replaces all the blood in my body. 

“She’s your daughter,” I say bewildered. I expected this fate for myself, I had almost come to accept it; but this, this can’t happen.

“She killed the Supreme, Aaron. It can’t go unpunished.”

“You’d execute your own child?”

I try to find any feelings of doubt in him. Some sort of guilt. Pain. Anything.

But there’s nothing.

He’s completely empty.

He’s talking about killing his own daughter, and not a single emotion comes out of him. 

“Believe me, Aaron, this pains me as much as it does you. But there’s nothing I can do about it now. Multiple soldiers saw the scene, they saw you both there with Anderson. If I spare Ella we’d be accused of conspiracy and we can’t let that happen. It’d destabilize the system more than it already has.”

“Max — ”

“Of course it’s a shame to lose her. Such a great asset, a bright future in front of her.”

_ Asset.  _ He talks about Ella as if talking about a police dog. 

“We had great expectations for you both. It was foolish of you to throw your futures away like this. I almost wish...”

There, an emotion. Cunning.

“What?” I ask.

“Well,” he says, clapping his arms together. “I almost wish there was another explanation for what happened that morning. The whole thing was rushed and...maybe we misinterpreted some of the facts. Maybe we’re putting the blame on someone who doesn’t deserve to carry it.”

Ah. So this was his plan. Perhaps they can’t afford to lose Ella after all.

By now they must know that I have some sort of ability as well, but they have seemed to have calculated the possible outcomes of this situation and conclude that, whatever it is they can do with me, is not worth keeping around. 

“But perhaps not,” he says, turning on his heel and walking towards the door. “I’m really sorry about all of this, Aaron. Really.”

“I killed him,” I say before he can walk out.

I know that he wants me to confess to killing my father. This would set Ella free. 

I know too, that this means that I will die. But she will live. There’s nothing I care more about. Whatever my fate is I will face it with my head straight if it means she’ll be safe. 

“Come again?”

“I killed him. I threw the letter opener at him, then when he tried to shoot me I took the weapon from him and made sure he died. Ella took the gun from me. She tried to stop me but she was too late.”

“Did she now?”

“Yes. What the soldiers saw was a misunderstanding. It was all me, she had nothing to do with it.”

“You know what this means for you, right, Aaron? Your willingness to confess won’t spare you.”

“But it will spare her.”

“Right,” he says nodding. “I knew you would do the right thing, son. I’ll be back tomorrow with a transcript of your confession for you to sign.”

With that he leaves the room, locking the heavy metal door behind him; and leaving me with the certainty that I am going to die, but also with the relief that, in doing so, Ella will live. 

That's the only thing I care for. 

**ELLA**

I wake up gasping. 

For a moment, the bright fluorescent lights blind me. The world around is comprised of white. Slowly, things start to come into focus, and soon, the memories of what happened before I woke up in this place come too. 

_ I killed Anderson. I killed the Supreme Commander.  _

_ God, Aaron. What happened to him?  _

I can feel my thoughts beginning to spiral, but I tell myself to calm down. I need to know what’s going on first. I need to know where Aaron is. 

Then I can have a panic attack if I so please. 

I take a better look at my surroundings trying to figure out exactly where I am. The bed I’m lying on is hard and it creeks with every movement I make. I have a thin blanket, which is rumpled at the bottom by my feet, and a flat pillow. The door is a heavy metal one with a small hatch in the middle of it. I turn to the other side to continue with my inspection.

Only then I realize my mother is sitting there

watching me

waiting ever so patiently for me to notice her presence. 

I stay quiet, waiting for her to speak. After a moment, she takes her glasses off, folds them and sticks them inside her breast pocket. She folds her hands over her crossed legs making me look down at my own. That’s when I realize I’m wearing handcuffs. They’re not attached to each other and they emit a soft blue glow, confusing me on their purpose. Just when I’m about to ask what they are, she says: “Do you have any idea of the magnitude of what you have done?”

I almost expect her to be yelling, but her voice is low and steady, every single word punctuated, which makes it even more terrifying. 

I try to speak but my voice breaks. My throat is like sandpaper. I wonder how long I have been unconscious. I have to clear my throat a couple of times before my voice returns. 

My mother looks at me expectantly. 

“He was going to kill me,” I say. 

“Ella, don’t be ridiculous,” she laughs shaking her head.

“He was pointing. A gun. To my head,” I say through my teeth. “He’s a goddamn  _ madman. _ ”

“And you decided that the best course of action was to put a knife through his neck and a bullet in his brain?” She stands up. “They could have you executed for this. Do you realize that?”

My vision is blurring. I can’t believe this is happening. 

“You’re lucky Aaron took the blame for you,” she says.

That slams me back into the ground. 

“No,” I say desperate, fumbling to stand up, my foot getting caught in the sheets and making me fall to the cold concrete floor. “No no  _ no _ . It wasn’t him, mom. He didn’t do anything. It was me.  _ I _ killed Anderson.”

“I know that,” she snaps. “I just can’t afford to lose you, Ella. Not after all the work I’ve done to get you to where you are. Least of all because of your infatuation with this, this  _ boy. _ ”

I don’t know when I started crying, all I know is that tears are cascading down my eyes. I feel so useless. So goddamn stupid and  _ useless.  _ “You can’t mom,” I whisper.

“I can,” she nods. “And I will darling. I should’ve gotten rid of him when I had the chance. It would’ve saved me of so many problems. Sadly I alone didn’t have the authority for it...but now.”

I don’t think. I just throw myself at her. 

I don’t get too far before she slaps me. Hard. 

I fall back to the floor beneath her, the taste of blood in my mouth. 

“Look at yourself, Ella!” she half-yells at me. “Acting like an irrational child. All because of him? I feel  _ sorry  _ for you _.  _ You should feel sorry for yourself. All this potential,” she takes a deep breath. “If you think I’m just going to let you throw it all away you are sadly mistaken.”

I’m paralyzed. I don’t think I’ve felt like this around my mother since I was a child. It had been long since she made me feel afraid. 

“Perhaps this will serve you well,” she says. “Aaron’s death will be a good lesson for you.” 

“Mom,  _ please _ . ”

She crouches down in front of me. I must look so pathetic to her, here on the ground. Begging.

“Don’t worry, darling,” she says pressing her hand softly into the same cheek she slapped a few moments ago. “After everything is done, you won’t remember a thing.”

I’m too stunned to register the meaning of her words properly. She’s touching me. She’s touching my skin. Without gloves.

Nothing is happening.

No pain. No rush of energy. Nothing.

She hit me. I was too surprised to notice that she didn’t recoil away from me in pain. 

“Wha — how?” I stammer. 

Then I remember the cuffs. I look than to my hands in bewilderment. Anger is filling up my body too fast to contain. Soon, it starts to spill. 

“How?” I ask again, my voice low and severe. 

“You’ve been useful in many more ways than you can imagine, Ella,” she says standing up as she makes her way to the door. 

“You’ve had this, for how long? You could’ve...I’ve could’ve,” I falter. My head is a hurricane of emotions that won’t let me speak in proper sentences. 

Then a thought occurs to me and everything clears. I’m standing in the eye of the hurricane. 

“You could’ve helped Leila,” I whisper. “You could’ve helped her and you let her die.”

“There are many things you still don’t understand, Ella. And I don’t expect you to.”

I’m on my feet. I start to walk towards her. I’m angry for Aaron, for his mother, my sister. I’m angry for myself. For all the things she’s made me do. All the pain I’ve been through because of her.

I’m so angry I want to wrap my hands around her neck and squeeze until all the life inside her body flees looking for oxygen. 

She slips out of the room slamming the door behind her before I get the chance. 

I hit the doors with my fists, over and over again until my knuckles bleed.

“I swear I’ll kill you!” I yell through the door. I don’t know if she can hear me, but I don’t care. This is a promise I’m making to myself. “I’m going to kill all of you!”

I fall back to the floor, hands bleeding and hot tears of fury running down my face. 

She won’t lay a hand on Aaron. I won’t let her. I won’t let her hurt anyone I love ever again. Not her and not anyone. 

I’ll die trying to protect them if I need to. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, frantically typing this chapter till 2 in the morning:  
> my roommate, watching The Great British Bake-Off: are you doing homework right now?  
> me:...yes  
> ***  
> hope you enjoyed!


	19. Chapter 19

**ELLA**

_4 years ago_

_“What if we just run away?” I ask as we sit on the roof of Sector 45’s base, looking at the stars through a veil of clouds and smog._

_Aaron releases a huff of air, his breath turning into a ball of mist that quickly dissipates into the cold air._

_“We could just go to some unregulated territory,” I continue voicing my fantasy, even though I know it can never happen. “Just you and I.”_

_“Wouldn’t that be something,” he whispers._

_“Imagine,” I say, turning to look at him. “We’d make a home out there. In the forest, or an abandoned skyscraper. Whatever it is there’s out there. Anything would be better than this.”_

_“They would find us and kill us,” he says, popping my balloon fantasy with his reality pin._

_“That’s probably still better than this,” I say, my voice somber._

_We stay silent for a moment, and then, he reaches out. Takes my hand in his making a jolt of electricity travel up my arm and into my entire body as my breath catches one and a thousand times in my throat._

_“I’d run away with you if we could, Ella.”_

_His touch is electric, but his words_ — _oh his words kill me._

_I want him to say them over and over again until I drown in the letters of his sentence._

_He turns to meet my eye, and his eyes are shining with emotion and so tender and I’m so in love with him so so desperately in love and I wonder if I leaned down to kiss him would he push me away or would he pull me close?_

_I’m close to finding out when he looks away and says: “Maybe we should’ve taken our chances in the lake,” and then he stands up and walks back into the compound, leaving me burning outside in the cold._

_***_

It’s been three days since I woke up. 

In those three days I’ve been given water twice and food once. Someone came to drop it through the small hatch on the door. The food was so hot it burned my hands when I grabbed it. The hatch opens again only for me to put back the cup they gave me.

I haven’t been able to shower or even change my clothes since I got here. I can only imagine how Aaron is feeling right now if he’s in the same situation that I am. 

I laugh at my own though.

I don’t even know if he’s still alive. Yet I worry that he might be feeling uncomfortable because he’s hygiene regime got disrupted. But knowing him, that might be one of his biggest concerns too.

If I’ve assumed correctly, my mother plans to make me watch his execution. So I can only hope that he is alive. That I can still save him. 

I still haven’t worked out how. I can’t defend myself as easily without my powers. I can’t fight against the many soldiers who will probably be present at the execution, many of which I’m sure are happy to see Aaron gone. Odds are not looking good for me. But I’m not going to give up.

I’m not going to stand there and do nothing.

I can’t

I’d rather they killed me too.

Hours go by as I look for something, anything, I can use to pry my shackles open, something I can use as a weapon; but there’s nothing. The room is as bare as when I first woke up here. I try to break off one of the bars from the bed, but even though rusty, it won’t give them up. I try the same with the bars on the small window but they’re cemented into the wall. I can’t even break a piece from the window, it’s made from reinforced glass. 

I kneel on the floor and let out a frustrated scream. My options have run out. Time is tick-tocking away. I’m still in square one.

_Think think think goddammit_

footsteps

I stand up so fast my vision blurs. The lack of food seems to be catching up to me, but I need to stay a few steps ahead for a little longer. I can’t afford to be weak at the moment. 

The door to my cell room burst open, to soldiers walk inside, their guns raised high and pointing straight at me. I’ve had a gun pointed at me enough times in my life not to be afraid, so I just stare at the soldiers waiting for them to stop their theatrics and do what they came here to do. 

“Put your hands up,” the taller one commands.

Slowly I raise my hands. “Higher?” I ask defiant, “Or is this good enough for you?”

The shorter one steps forward, he bunches the front collar of my shirt in his fist pulling me forward and then pushes me out the door. “Quiet!” he barks.

I walk in front of them through a long, empty hallway. In the distance, I hear people screaming, my step falters. _What is this place?_

One of the soldiers pushes me forward with the barrel of his gun. “Keep moving.”

Even though I don’t stop again, they keep hitting and pushing me with their guns. They must be enjoying their chance to hurt me for once. I grow used to their incessant taunts as we continue to move forward the maze that is this place when one of them hits me particularly hard on the back of my head with the grip of the gun. I hiss at the sharp pain and trip forward, catching myself before I fall and straightening up. I turn to look at them my fury clear on my eyes. For one second they falter remembering their fear, then they remember that I can’t hurt them and they push me forward again. 

When we finally exit the building they waste no time shoving me into the back of a van. They climb in after me closing the door behind them. The car engine starts and we move. The whole way I look straight into the soldiers’ eyes, daring them to do something, daring them to hit me again. My patience is wearing thin, and if they do so again I won’t stay still. Luckily for them—and for me, since I can’t take down two armed soldiers in my current state—they don’t. They just stare back. 

Finally, the car comes to a stop. The doors open revealing more soldiers outside. We’re back on base, I notice, I stand up and jump out when they order me too. Once outside, I see my parents standing beside the car.

“I hope you’ve had some time to think about things, Ella,” my mother says to me once I come up to her. 

“Plenty,” I respond.

“Come on, then,” she says, walking towards the exit, my father—ever so silent—and a few soldiers following along,

“I assume you’ve brought me here to watch?” I ask.

“I told you you had to learn your lesson didn’t I?”

Air fills my body up again. He’s still alive. I can still save him. 

“Why are you doing this? We are you letting me live?”

“Because we need you, Ella. A lot of things are happening right now, and we need your help to stop it.”

A renewed wave of rage courses through me. “I’m going to make the rest of my life making you regret this,” I say, my voice grave. 

She huffs. “I know, honey. That’s why you won’t remember a thing.”

She’s told me this before. What does it mean?

“What are you going to do?” I ask. “Take my memories?”

“Don’t worry about it right now.” 

We come out to a clearing. There’s a stage set up in the middle of it, a group of civilians and soldiers surrounding it. They’re carrying out an execution today and they’ve set it up like a goddamn Shakespeare play. 

Suddenly I see a brunette head turn around. _Emma._ She starts running towards us, she grabs my arms ignoring our mother’s protests. 

“Ella!” she says, worry clear as day in her face. “God, are you okay?” 

“You have to help me, Emma,” I whisper. “You have to help me, they’re going to kill him.”

“Ella...”

“Emma, _please._ They took my powers,” I say signaling down at my handcuffs, Emmaline looks down at them shaking her head in confusion. “I can’t save him alone.” 

Before she can respond, our mother pulls her away from me, pushing her back into the audience. That’s when I notice the rest of us are here too; Nazeera and Haider, Nicolas and Valentina, Stephan, and Lena. Their parents too. They must’ve brought them here for the same reason I’m here. To give us all a message. _This is what happens when you defy us._

The soldiers behind me push me closer to the stage, my parents follow behind me, joining the rest of the Supreme Commanders. 

I can’t hear anything but the pounding of my heart against my ears. I’m running out of time and I have no idea what to do. I can’t fight not like this, not against everyone. I’d get myself killed if I tried, and I can save Aaron if I’m dead.

There’s a low buzzing sound and the soldiers get on position. The same doors from where I came from open again. 

Aaron steps out, one soldier on each side.

He has a bruise under his eye. My blood starts to boil. I inch forward involuntarily and a hand wraps around my arm pulling me back to where I was. The grip is so strong my arm starts to become numb, but I don’t react. All I can do is look at Aaron, waiting so desperately for him to meet my eye. _Please please please look at me._ But he doesn’t. His gaze is fixed on a point in the horizon. I turn to look at Emmaline, she’s not looking at me either. 

A sob catches in my throat as the realization comes. _There’s nothing I can do to save him. He’s going to die right in front of my eyes and I can’t stop it._

I start to hyperventilate, tears blurring my vision. I bite my lip so hard the taste of copper fills my mouth. The world around me dissipates and bleeds out like the ink on water. 

Aaron gets on his knees in the middle of the stage. He looks at the ground.

The soldier lifts his gun. 

“Ella,” Emmaline whispers.

I turn to look at her. She looks down at my hands. Nods. 

My shackles fall to the ground. I feel my power come back to me like a bolt of lightning coursing through my veins.

 _“Now,”_ she says.

I forget that I don’t have a plan, I just start running. Someone tries to hold me back but as soon as they touch my skin their hands retract and I hear their cries of pain. 

I jump into the stage. Aaron looks up as he becomes aware of what’s going on around him. I throw myself at the soldier as he fires his gun. I throw him off balance, the bullet missing Aaron’s head but burying itself on his arm making him fall backward. I rip the gun of the soldier’s hands and hit him on the head with it. I can feel his skull shatter. His blood sprays into my face in a warm mist. I’m momentarily frozen into place. I turn to look at the audience to see that mayhem has broken loose. People are running in every direction. A soldier has Emmaline pinned to the ground. 

Then I realize soldiers are shooting at me. I look down at myself, my clothes are full of holes. A see of bullets expands around me. Yet I’m not hurt. I can barely feel the bullets as the impact my body over and over again. 

A bullet finds its way to the inside of my mouth making me react. I turn the gun around and start to shoot the soldiers down, starting with the one on top of Emmaline. I look around the crowd looking for my mother, ready to put a bullet through her head. I spot her close to the base’s entrance, but just as I lift my gun to point at her some soldiers shove her inside. Bullets aren’t hitting me anymore. 

I turn my attention back to Aaron.

A pool of blood has gathered around him. His eyes fluttering open and closed, like the wings of a butterfly. 

Next I know, I’m beside him tilting his head up. “Aaron,” I whisper, my voice ripping from my throat. “Honey, look at me. Please open your eyes.”

A hand wraps around my arm. I snap my head back, ready to rip their head out of their shoulders, but there’s no one.

I can’t _see_ anyone. 

The invisible hand pulls at me. I gasp when I realize I can’t see _myself._

“We have to go _now!_ ” the voice barks. 

“What? Who—”

“Listen, I promise I’ll explain everything but a _fuckton_ of soldiers are about to storm this place so If you want to stay alive we gotta leave now!”

He pulls me again, this time harder, but I stay planted to the ground.

“I’m not leaving him.”

He hesitates, his grip on my arm softening and then hardening again. “Christ,” he mutters. “Help me get him up, then.”

Together, unable to see each other we lift Aaron of the ground. He’s barely conscious. I ease his hurt arm around my shoulder, his blood dampening my shirt making it flatten and stick to my skin. 

“Try to follow me,” the voice commands, pulling me and Aaron away from the crowd, invisible to everyone there. 

I try to follow him as best as I can, guiding myself by the direction I can feel him pulling us to and occasional verbal commands. 

I look back to the crowd one last time before they’re out of sight. I can’t spot my sister or anyone else I care for. One part of me wants to turn back, to tear the place apart until I find Emmaline and drag her away with me. But the other part, the bigger part, is fixated on the feel of Aaron’s nearly limp body pressed against me. Fixated on feeling his wrist looking for his pulse, calculating his heart rate in my head. 

Instead of turning back, I follow my heart forward and into the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't post yesterday...I really just forgot


	20. Announcement + Teaser

Hey all!

I really hate doing this but I have been craaazy busy and I'm probably going to be for the rest of the month (October). Because of this, I couldn't have a chapter ready for this week and might take a little to update. Hopefully good things will come out of these following weeks, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Sorry again for the not being able to update, but I didn't want to leave y'all without anything so here's a teaser for the next chapter! (also a trigger warning for suicidal thoughts on this one so if you're sensitive to that please proceed with caution!)

* * *

**AARON**

Some days I didn’t feel particularly attached to being alive. 

Some days I would feel like my soul was outside my body. That I was looking down at myself, an empty carcass of a body. I had toyed, many times since childhood, with the idea of ending my life. I would go into the simulation chamber and shoot another version of myself in it. Watch myself die and imagine what would it be like to do it for real. 

I had never talked to anyone about these thoughts. I worried it would make me look weak. Instead, I tried to give a purpose to each day. Find some sort of release in completing tasks I had assigned myself to keep going. Drowned the rest with medication. 

Some days were lighter than others, especially nowadays with Ella there to pull me from the inner darker corners of my head. It felt easier to breathe. To think about my life years in the future instead of trying to drag myself to the next day. 

But some days, the lonelier days, I would catch the intrusive thoughts flooding my mind one drop at a time. 

I had been numb to the feeling for a long time.  But actually dying was...strange. 

The pain in my arm had dissolved from an all-encompassing burning to a throbbing ache. But as I felt less and less pain I felt more of myself fade away. I couldn’t move my feet forward, couldn’t lift my head up to look around to wherever it was we were.

All I could see was her.

Her eyes, blue green. Like the globe. Like the entire world. 


	21. Chapter 21

**AARON**

Some days I didn’t feel particularly attached to being alive. 

Some days I would feel like my soul was outside my body. That I was looking down at myself, an empty carcass of a body. I had toyed, many times since childhood, with the idea of ending my life. Or I would go into the simulation chamber as shoot another version of myself in it. Watch myself die and imagine what would it be like to do it for real. 

I had never talked to anyone about these thoughts. I worried it would make me look weak. Instead, I tried to give a purpose to each day. Find some sort of release in completing tasks I had assigned myself to keep going. Drowned the rest with medication. 

Some days were lighter than others, especially nowadays with Ella there to pull me from the inner darker corners of my head. It felt easier to breathe. To think about my life years in the future instead of trying to drag myself to the next day. 

But some days, the lonelier days, I could catch the intrusive thoughts flooding my mind one drop at a time. 

I had been numb to the feeling for a long time. But actually dying was...strange. 

The pain in my arm had dissolved from an all-encompassing burning to a throbbing ache. But as I felt less and less pain I felt more of myself fade away. I couldn’t move my feet forward, couldn’t lift my head to look around to wherever it was we were in.

All I could see was her.

Her eyes, blue green. Like the globe. Like the entire world. 

I try to lift my hand to touch her cheek, brush the tears that are spilling from her eyes away, but I can’t move. It occurs to me that I might already be dead. That this vision of her is just one final kindness from my brain, to let me see her one final time before I go. 

I wish I could see her smiling. 

And right as I start to slip away, I do.

**ELLA**

We’re in some sort of underground bunker. 

I don’t know how long we had been driving before he,  _ Kenji,  _ stopped.

Aaron had been coming in and out of consciousness for the last few minutes of our trip, effectively giving me a heart attack every time he did. I dug out the bullet from his shoulder with a small blade Kenji was carrying. He was still losing a lot of blood, I did what I could to stop it bandaging it with a piece of his own shirt. My hands were shaking the entire time. Kenji keeps shooting looks at me until I told him to keep his eyes on the road. I didn’t even realize I was crying until I opened my mouth to speak and tasted the salt of my tears. 

We were in the middle of nowhere when the tank finally comes to a stop. I should’ve paid more attention to our surroundings. But now we’re on this unfamiliar place and Kenji’s yelling for someone I don’t know and people are stopping dead in their tracks when they see me, muttering  _ what the hell were you thinking Kishimoto, how could you bring them here. _

“Please, I’ll explain later,” he says. “Just get the twins here,  _ now. _ ”

They’re dragging Aaron away.

“Where are you taking him?” I ask frantic, trying to follow them before a hand grabs my arm and pulls me back.

"Let them take care of it,” Kenji says.

“No. No, I have to—”

“Listen to me, princess. He’ll be fine, the twins are going to fix him, I promise.”

I know I can’t fight him. I know I shouldn’t, not here, not with so many people who all very clearly hate me around. But God I want to. Just one swift punch on the jaw and he’d be on the ground and I’d be going after Aaron making sure he’s okay. 

He takes a look at me. “Maybe we should go get you cleaned up,” he says. “It’s kinda disturbing to see you like that...no offense.”

I look down at my hands, covered in a mixture of dry and fresh blood. My clothes are no better than that, probably my face too.

“None taken,” I say. “But I'm waiting here.”

“Really, they’re taking care of him. He’ll be good as new—”

“If you’re not letting me see what’s happening then the least you can do is letting me wait here.”

He laughs at that. “No,” he breathes, “the least I could do was letting you two behind for them to kill you and save my own sorry ass, but I didn’t, did I?” 

A man appears at the end of the hallway. Kenji turns to look at him when I do and mutters a low "fuck". He steps closer to the light and I can see his features better. He is maybe in his forties, tall and slim and dark-skinned. Another man comes out from behind him. This is one is tall and muscular. Soldier type. His blue eyes are piercing into mine. If he’s trying to mask his hatred towards me he is doing a terrible job. 

“Sir,” Kenji says, and by the way his voice wavers I know that this man is in charge. “I can explain.”

“You and I will talk later,” he says. He sounds mad, but I can also detect a hint of fondness on his voice. They must be close. He turns to look at me. “Miss Sommers, I’m Castle. I would like to ask you some questions.” 

“I just want to make sure that Aaron is okay,” I say. “Then I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

“You’re not in a position to negotiate here, Miss Sommers. And I think that you understand that I can’t have you stay here if I don’t know your intentions.”

“I don’t know where  _ here _ is and I don’t have any intentions. I was dragged here by him,” I say pointing at Kenji, “and now for all I know this could all be a trap and you're planning to kill the both of us, so forgive me if I’m weary.”

“So much for trust,” Kenji whispers. 

I ignore him.

“Then let’s talk so I can assure you that no one here is going to harm you.”

***

His office is a mess. 

It’s not much bigger than a broom closet and it’s up to the brim with files and loose papers. I’m sure spending so much time with Aaron has changed my expectations of what “a mess” looks like, but either way. 

Castle gave me a few moments alone in a bathroom so I could wash and change myself. The clothes they gave me are big on me and hang around in awkward places. It makes me look smaller than I already am. I try to fix it by rolling my pants and tucking in my shirt but I still look out of proportion. At least these clothes are clean. Everyone was giving me weird looks in my blood-soaked outfit. Apparently, not everyone here is used to that.

Castle motions for me to sit in the chair in front of his desk. That other guy that was behind him earlier is still hanging around. He hasn’t said a word. 

“I’m going to ask you some questions, Miss Sommers,” Castle says, preventing me from snapping at soldier boy. “I hope that you answer them truthfully.”

I blink at him.

“Are you loyal to the Reestablishment?”

I laugh. By the looks of it, he does not find it amusing. 

“Really?” I ask.

“They’re your family,” he says. “And you’ve been working with them for years.”

“My  _ family  _ tried to kill me. They tried to kill Aaron. And I killed the Supreme Commander and attempted to kill my own parents. Can’t exactly go back from that, Mr. Castle, it would make for a very awkward Christmas dinner, don’t you think?”

“I thought Mr. Warner was the one to kill Supreme Anderson,” he says in lieu of a question. 

“It was a joint effort.”

He ponders at this. “Then why weren’t you being  tried for it?”

“They didn’t want to waste my abilities,” I deadpan. “I suppose they figured they could let this transgression go.”

It goes on like this for maybe an hour. Me telling him what happened that day, what my mother told me, telling him not everything, but enough for him to see why I hate my parents and the Reestablishment. I detect a hint of pity in his eyes at some point. My voice wavers a little bit to the sight of it. I quickly recompose myself and tell Castle the rest of the story, pretending like it doesn’t hurt to relive some of the darkest moments of my life. Like I’m fine with opening my insides and watching him inspect them to see if I’m worthy of his trust. 

I know I have to earn their trust, because if they don’t then worst-case scenario is they kill us, and best-case scenario is they use us as ransom and then the Reestablishment kills us. 

I hear soldier-boy huff a couple of times as I speak. The third time he does it I turn to him, hands crossed in my lap and ask “Is there something you need?”

He looks unsettled which pleases me. Before he has a chance to respond, if he even planned to, Castle interjects. “Mr. Kent is only here to ensure our safety, Miss Sommers. Please excuse his rudeness.”

“ _ Our  _ safety? Don’t you mean yours?”

“Well—” he starts.

“I’m not offended by people being afraid of me. I understand if you need him to feel safe. But, as advice for the future, you should not underestimate people. I’m perfectly trained in hand to hand combat and with the advantage of my abilities, which I’m sure you are perfectly aware of, I don’t see how much protection a single man could offer you.”

He smiles. “Believe me, Miss Sommers—”

“Ella,” I interrupt. “I think we can let go of formalities.”

“I haven’t underestimated you,” he continues. “But I need to ask you one more question before I know for sure if I can trust you.” 

I give him an expectant look.

“Your sister,” he says.

My breath catches in my throat. I hadn’t given myself the chance to think about her, and now that I do my thoughts start to race again. I lost sight of her back at base. My parents must know that it was she who helped me get out of the handcuffs. She could be in prison right now. She could be dead.

“That is not a question,” I say simply, a helpless attempt to avoid talking about her. 

“Going against your family could mean going against your sister, Miss Sommers,” he says. “From what you’ve told me I can see that you care deeply about her. If you had to go against her, would you?”

“I don’t even know where she is,” I whisper.

“Would you?” he asks again.

“I wouldn’t have to. She is not loyal to them, she might be more idealistic than I am and think that there is something she can do to change them, but she wants what’s best for everyone. She’d go against them if she had to. But as I said, I don’t know where she is. She might be dead for all that I know.”

“I have people looking into it,” he says, almost as he expected me to say that.

“What?”

“I have people working for us looking into the whereabouts of your sister. It’s very valuable information for us to be able to know where people like you are and what you’re doing.”

My mind begins to spin, and the sudden memory of feeling watched in sector 45 comes back to me. Then it all clicks.

“Kenji has been spying on me.”

“I apologize for the invasion of privacy, miss Sommers, but yes.”

Some moments pass.

“So,” he continues. “Can I count on you to help us to take down the Reestablishment?”

“I want to take them down more than you could possibly realize,  _ Mr.  _ Castle," I say. "But how is this little  _ underground army _ is going to do that?”

He smiles again, this time with pride. “Well, then let me give you an official introduction to Omega Point.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!!! Who would've thought?   
> Updates from here on might continue to be a little irregular, but hopefully I can continue to find some free time to write this. There's still some chapters left to this and I'm committed to finishing.   
> I also want to thank everyone who has stuck to this incredibly messy, nonsensical story and has subscribed, bookmarked, left kudos and comments. It's the first one I ever write and I really appreciate all the support.   
> I hoped you enjoyed the chapter and see you on the next one!


	22. Chapter 22

**ELLA**

My mouth falls open. What Castle is saying...it’s not possible. It _can’t_ be. 

But then he shows me. The glass in front of him begins to levitate, then falls slowly back into the table. 

_How many?_ I hear myself ask. 

_Probably more than you think,_ he says.

The words are barely registering. I feel like I’m in a dream. 

The fact that more unnaturals were out there somewhere wasn’t hard to believe. It explained what the man I killed, what seems now like a hundred years ago, said to me. But I never imagined it would be at this scale. Not that they would have a resistance. 

My imagination starts to run wild. _What can the others_ _do?_

A knock in the doors stops me from asking.

“Come in,” Castle says.

The door opens, Kenji peaks his head inside. 

“Sorry to interrupt, Sir,” he says turning towards me. “But your boyfriend is up and he’s making a goddamn scene so, can you please come tell him to calm the hell down?”

I’m instantly on my feet. As we walk out of the room I hear the soldier stop Castle to question him on whether it’s a good idea to trust me, but at this point, I couldn’t care less if he does or not. Kenji leads me back to what I’m guessing is their version of a medical guard. Aaron is on his feet, batting off the hands of two dark-skinned, identical girls who are trying to tell him to calm down. I stop at the sight of him. I didn’t expect him to look so... _alive._ He was shot barely a couple of hours ago. He stiffens, and slowly he turns around. His eyes lock with mine, a breath that had been caught in my throat since we arrived finally releasing. I don’t know who takes the first step forward, but suddenly I’m enveloped by the warmth of his arms. 

I tear myself off him to inspect his arm. He has a shirt on, but it doesn’t seem like he has any bandages.

“It’s all healed,” he says. “Like nothing happened.”

“ _What?_ ” I ask, incredulous. I turn to the twins that are shifting their eyes between us and one another. “You did this?”

“Yes,” they say in unison. 

“I’m Sara,” the one to the left says.

“Sonya,” says the other. “We’re the healers here at Omega point.” 

Their voices sound hesitant when they speak; like they aren’t sure if they’re supposed to be telling me any of this. Manners trump their insecurity, it seems.

“You should lay down, Mr. Warner,” Sara continues. “You still need to rest.”

“She’s right,” says Sonya. “We’ve might’ve healed your injury but you still need time to recover before—”

“Now, now, girls,” says Castle. “I want to talk to him for a moment first. You two go get dinner,” he turns towards Kenji and Kent, who also followed him here. “You two go outside as well.”

Kent looks at Aaron and me again, I can feel the anger and weariness coming from him even without Aaron’s abilities. He turns around and quickly disappears into the hallways. Kenji mutters “Not even a ‘thank you’, damn.”

“Thank you, Kenji,” I call after him.

He snaps his head around, a huge grin on his face. “Oh why, _you are_ _welcome,_ princess.”

And with that, he leaves the room.

***

Aaron and I sit on his hospital bed, Castle standing in front of us. He asks Aaron most of the questions he asked me, only Aaron is more hesitant to respond. I keep nodding at him, trying to encourage him to answer. _We need them to trust us,_ I tap in morse code into his back, trying to make it look like a comforting back rub. 

_Why?_ he taps back.

 _We have no other choice_. 

If Castle notices that we’re doing it, he doesn’t show.

He is quiet for a moment after he is done with his interrogation. “Well,” he says clapping his hands together. “I’m very glad to have you both on our side.”

“I never—” Aaron starts. 

“Aaron,” I interrupt. “Don’t.”

He gives me a pointed look, then looks away with a sigh.

“It’s been a very long day,” Castle continues. “It’s almost lights out and you both need some rest.”

He leads us both through the corridors of Omega Point. We pass through multiple doors and rooms, I keep a mental note of what’s on each one, I memorize the way to every one them. I turn to look at Aaron who has not said another word since we left the medical guard. His muscles are tense, his jaw clenched, all of his senses seem on high alert. I take his hand in mine, startling him back into the moment. He gives me a weak smile.

I know that he doesn’t trust this place. I’m not completely sure I do either. Half the people I saw today looked ready to bury a knife on my back the moment I turned around. But they saved Aaron’s life, and even if they didn’t want to they saved mine, too. Right now, they are the only chance we have. 

We reach what seems like the end of this part of the facility. There’s only a couple of doors on each wall, two guards standing outside each one. 

“I hope this doesn’t damage the bit of trust we’ve built between each other,” he says. “But for now I think it’s better if you spend the night in the holding facilities. This is to ensure your safety, for as you know many people here in Omega Point aren’t as pleased to have you here. You will be safe here.”

I look up at Aaron and nod trying to say “ _It’s okay.”_

At Castle’s command, the guards open two separate doors. 

“Wait,” I say, realizing that Aaron and I will be separated for the night. “Can I just have a moment to talk to Aaron?”

“You’ll have time to talk during breakfast. We’ll meet again after that. Until tomorrow.”

***

It’s the first moment I have alone since everything that happened and I think I’m losing my head. 

The dinner that they brought to us sits untouched in the corner of my room. I’m exhausted, but my brain can’t shut off. It keeps replaying over and over again the scenes from this morning. Aaron on his knees. Emmaline setting me free. Aaron on the ground, blood pooling around him. _Soldiers shooting at me_. Nothing happening. 

I still haven’t had time to reconcile with that fact. I don’t understand what happened or how it happened. 

I had never been able to do something like that before.

I thought that my lethal skin was the only ability that I had, but now I’m starting to think that’s is nowhere near the end of it.

I didn’t mention it to Castle. I couldn’t. I don’t even know how to put it into words, less if I can trust him with it. Kenji must’ve seen something, but I doubt he has said anything either. 

But my new-found ability is the least of my problems at the moment. 

We killed the Supreme Commander.

The whole world is probably haunting for my head.

I have no idea where my sister is. 

I press the heel of my palms to my eyes. I’ve been grinding my teeth so hard my head has started to throb. 

For the first time in years, I allow myself to think of before. Before my abilities manifested. Before the Reestablishment. 

We were _happy._ I thought our parents loved us. _What happened?_

A tear rolls down my cheek, and then the water dam breaks. All those years of pent-up emotions come rushing in and choke me. I press my hand into my mouth to drown out the sobs that want to break free from my chest. I don’t know for how long I silently cry in this lonely room. When I do I’m so exhausted that it takes almost nothing for me to slowly drift off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...my google doc for this fic is now over a hundred pages. I started this because I was hella bored during the summer and now we're here. This now has over 400 hits and I honestly never thought anyone would actually read it, so thanks again for all the love. I hope you've enjoyed this so far.


	23. Chapter 23

**ELLA**

I’m woken up with a loud bang against the door.

I don’t immediately recognize my surroundings, it takes me a couple of seconds to remember where I am. 

Someone knocks on the door again.

I roll off the thin mattress pad on the floor and walk towards the door. “Hello?” I ask.

The door opens, a different man than the one that was standing outside my room yesterday stands in front of me. 

“Good morning?”

“Morning, miss Sommers,” the man says. “Mr. Castle instructed us to lead you to the dining area this morning, and it’s almost time for breakfast so you should get ready.”

“Can I see Aaron first?”

“Castle had some questions for Mr. Warner today so he was taken to him.”

My mind, still groggy with sleep until that moment goes into full alert. “Can I be taken to them, then?”

He shakes his head. “We were given clear instructions to take you to the dining area. Please do what you need to do now and knock when you’re ready to go,” he says, and unceremoniously closes the door in my face. 

I count one two three seconds go by. I knock. 

He opens the door again.

“I’m ready. ”

***

The conversations come to a stop the moment I walk into the room. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me. If they’re trying to make me uncomfortable, they’re going to have to try harder than that. 

I spot Kenji on one of the tables. he, oblivious to everyone around him going silent, keeps talking animatedly, a mouthful of food still on his mouth. I make my way towards him, ignoring the dirty words people throw my way. 

“Kenji,” I say, startling him.

He turns to look at me. “Oh, hey there, Ella,” he says. “I was kinda in the middle of something here, but — ”

“Can we talk?”

He drops his fork into his plate dramatically. “Sure.”

We walk towards the corner of the room, away from his group and the other tables. Once we’re out of earshot he asks. “So what’s up?”

“What did Castle want Aaron for?”

“I don’t know, Princess. There are many things he could want. He probably just wanted to ask him some questions.”

“What’s so damn secret about it that I can’t be there?”

He looks around, sighs. “Listen, I get you’re concerned. But making a scene here is not going to help your case. Most people are  _ not thrilled _ that I brought you here, and I don’t know about you but I like the idea of not getting murdered in my sleep, so I would advise you to sit down, eat your food and put on a nice face for the crowd cause your approval rating is not too good right now. Romeo will be back soon, I promise. Then you can interrogate him all you want.” 

I think about what he said for a moment. “Fine,” I say. “But I’m not putting a happy face for anyone.”

***

Kenji made me sit with him on his table. I try to sit toward the end of the bench without looking like I’ll try to run away at any given moment. The sleeves of my shirt are long, but my hands are still exposed. I’m not used to being this uncover around so many strangers. 

I look around the faces in the table, committing their names and attitudes to memory. The soldier boy from yesterday is here, looking as displeased as always.  _ Adam,  _ Kenji said his name was. There’s another girl, Alia, though she is mostly quiet, and two other guys, Brendan and Winston, who mostly talk to each other.

Kenji keeps rambling on and on, jumping from one subject to another. Winston rolls his eyes a couple of times and buries his face into his cup of coffee. 

“You know what I really want for my birthday?” Brendan asks Kenji.

“What?”

“For you to shut up...for just one second.”

Kenji throws a piece of bread to him. I chuckle as Alia says “Hey, don’t waste food, man.”

“Is it your birthday?” I ask turning to Brendan. 

“Uhh, it was a couple of days ago,” Brendan says, blinking unsure. Not the worst reaction I’ve had towards me yet. “I turned 24, actually,” he laughs a little nervously. 

“Oh well,” I say. “Happy birthday anyways. Hope you...had a good time.”

_ Good one, Ella.  _

He smiles bright. “Thanks.”

Winston lifts his eyebrows to him, questioning. 

“What?” he asks, his cheeks going pink with embarrassment. 

“Oh, look who’s finally here,” Kenji says.

I turn in the direction of the entrance. Aaron is standing there, in all of his uninjured glory. 

I practically jump out of my seat and run to him. I wrap my arms around him the second I am close enough. He stands still for a couple of seconds, then he pushes my hair off my face. I’m suddenly self-conscious about my appearance. I didn’t even take a second to wash my face in the morning. But this is nowhere near the worst I’ve ever looked around him. And as bad as I ever do look, he never comments on it. 

And he doesn’t look too good either. There are dark circles around his eyes, his face paler than usual. The smile he tries to give me doesn’t reach his eyes. 

“Are you okay?” I ask. “What’s going on? What did Castle want?”

“I’m okay, love,” he says. “Don’t worry about it. He just wanted to ask more questions about my father and the reestablishment.”

“Sure you’re okay?” I ask, weary. 

He nods.

I look back at Kenji’s table, who’s making a bad job at pretending that he’s not looking at us. I wonder whether we should go back and sit with them. As much progress as I could’ve made with the rest of the group, they definitely don’t hate me as much as they hate Aaron. They’re all probably from this sector, and he was their Commander. And thanks to his father, he has quite a reputation. 

I can’t even begin to imagine what Aaron must be feeling right now. He’s used to feeling the hatred of his soldier, but I don’t think he’s ever experienced such an unmasked display of hostility. 

“Maybe we should — ” I start to say, when from the other side of the room Kenji yells, “Are you coming or what?”

“Are you sure, love?” Aaron asks looking down at me.

I nod. “Yeah,” I say, my voice coming out strained. “They’re...nice.”

I take his hand in mine and lead him towards the group.

***

We’ve been sitting here maybe for two minutes and no one has said a word. Not even Kenji, who, even though I’ve only known for a couple of days, I know has an ability to talk and keep talking no matter what. 

“So why did you kill him?” Adam asks, speaking for the first time since I sat down on this table.

Aaron looks up, a silent treat in his eyes. 

“It’s what we’re all wondering, isn’t it?” he continues. “Just getting it out of the way.”

Aaron’s hand grips my leg from under the table. 

“We both did,” I say.

“What?” Winston asks, “but I thought — ”

“I know what you thought,” I say. “But we both did.”

“ _ Why? _ ” Adam snaps.

“ _ Because Paris Anderson was the scum of the Earth, _ ” I say, matching the anger in his voice. “The only regret I have is that we didn’t do it sooner. And that I didn’t take my time.”

The table goes quiet again.

“Well fuck,” Kenji murmurs. 

Then “ _ Paris? _ ” Adam asks, his expression now full of something I can’t place.

“That’s a stupid name,” Alia says.

Adam suddenly jumps out of his seat, his hands in tight fists.

“Bro, you good?” Kenji asks concerned.

Then a little boy, no older than 11, comes into the room running towards Adam.

“Adam!  _ You won’t believe what I _ — ”   
“ _ James, _ ” he interrupts, putting his hands in the boy’s shoulders and pushing him back. “Come on, let’s go.”

“What? where are we going?” he asks as Adam takes his hand as pulls him out of the room. 

“Come on I just need to show you something.” 

All we do is stare as they exit the room hand in hand. I turn to look at Kenji, his eyebrows are furrowed and mouth slightly opened.

“Does he usually behave like that?” I ask.

He shakes his head no. “I’m going to go check on him,” he says before and getting up and going after them.

“He was scared,” Aaron says to me.

“Scared of what?” I ask meeting his eye.

“I don’t know.”

Brendan clears his throat. “I mean no offense here,” he says. “But even I was a little scared of you right there.”   
“You’re not funny,” says Winston.

“I’m just trying to make this less weird, man.”

“Miss Sommers,” a voice that I’ve come to recognize says behind me.

“Mr. Castle,” I say standing up. “What is it?”

“I have news for you. It’s about your sister.”

***

**Ella**

**_2 years ago._ **

_ I scurry into my guest room the second I get back to Asia. I told the soldiers that I needed a moment to put myself together before meeting with Emma and Nazeera. _

_ It’s a small blessing to have this moment by myself. I don’t know if they know I’m back yet. I need to think of what the hell I’m going to say to my sister. I sigh and flop face down into my bed, smiling into the soft pillow. I can’t stop thinking about Aaron. The way he looked at me when he woke up in the morning. His lips against my skin. His hot breath in my neck as he— _

_ A soft knock in the door snaps me back to this less than exciting reality.  _

_ “Come in,” I say as I wipe the love-struck expression from my face. _

_ Emma opens the door stepping inside. Time’s up. “Hey,” she says. “I heard you arrived. You spend the night there?” _

_ I hesitate. “Yes,” I say after a few seconds. “I was tired and he invited me to stay the night.” _

_ She comes further into the room. Sits at the end of my bed.  _

_ She gives me a hard, long look. _

_ “You cowered out didn’t you?” _

“No!”

_ “What did you say, then?” she asks accusative.  _

_ “What I intended to.” _

_ “And what happened?” _

He told me he loved me. And I told him that I loved him. We kissed. We did more than just kissing. I felt alive for the first time in years.  _ “We talked,” I say. _

_ She lifts her eyebrows, pressing me to go further. _

_ I sigh. “He’s not dating Lena,” I say because I can’t think of anything better. _

_ “Ella—” _

_ “I know what you’re going to say, okay?” _

_ “And what is that?” _

_ “That that doesn’t change anything. That I’m an idiot,” I say. “And maybe you’re right. But we talked... _ really talked _. And I guess we’re both on the same page now. He’s still my best friend and he still cares about me, and we’re still going to talk and...be close and Anderson won’t stop that. Or our parents or anyone for that matter.” _

_ Her expression grows softer. “I know,” she sighs. “I’m just worried about you. I don’t want you to break your own heart trying to keep this thing— _ whatever you two have— _ going.” _

_ “I know what I’m doing, okay? You don’t have to worry about me.” _

_ “Well, I’m not going to stop just because you tell me to.” _

_ “I know.” _

_ “And if he ever makes you cry again I will punch him in the throat.” _

_ I laugh. “I know. But technically that wasn’t his fault.” _

_ “Yeah well, punch first, ask questions later.” _

_ I crawl towards her, resting my head in her legs. Her hand starts rubbing circles in my back. _

_ “I love you,” I say. _

_ “And I you.” _

_ *** _

**ELLA**

“What do you mean ‘disappeared’?”

Aaron closely watches me from the door of Castle’s office as I pace around like a lion on a cage. I might look furious right now, but it doesn’t escape him how afraid I actually am right now. His eyebrows are furrowed in concern, his arms wrapped around his own body, probably to prevent reaching for me. He doesn’t like to publicly display his affection, but most importantly, he doesn’t want to make me betray the emotions that I’m trying so desperately to conceal. If he as much as asks me if I’m okay right now I’ll probably break down in tears, and he knows that. So he stays back. Watching.

“Apparently some of our sources had been hearing talk about not only your sudden disappearance but also your sister’s,” Castle says. “The Reestablishment tried to cover it up by saying that she was quickly removed from the area from safety reasons and is now in a secure location. They’ve kept a fake paper trail of this too, very meticulous.”

“And?” I ask impatiently.

“And,” he continues, “it’s all lies. Some of our informants from high positions have heard from the Supreme Commanders themselves that she is, in fact, missing. Some said that she disappeared from the scene only a few seconds before you did.”

I look at him bewildered. “Like  _ invisible  _ disappear?”

He shakes his head like saying  _ I don’t know _ . “But that’s not all. Several soldiers who were present at the moment of your disappearance were being interrogated by your parents. And now they have no recollection of the event. Rather, they remember seeing Mr. Warner die in the scene and you get arrested.”

_ “What?” _

“It is what they’ve told me, Miss Sommers.”

“Who—what sources exactly.”

His eyes jump between Aaron and I. “I’m afraid I can’t say.” 

I huff indignantly.

“Wait,” Aaron steps in. “So what you’re saying is that they’ve  _ changed  _ the memories of the people that were present at my attempted execution and that everyone thinks I’m dead?”

“Yes,” Castle says. “It’s on official records as well.”

“What about the Supreme’s children? What do they think?”

“For them I can’t speak, I’m afraid.”

“And Emmaline is gone,” I say as I collapse into one of the chairs, my voice wavering. “And no one knows where she is.”

Castle’s face fills to the brim with pity. He’s very sentimental, not like other leaders I know. “Not to my knowledge.” 

Aaron comes to sit next to me, rubs his hand against my thigh. “If they haven’t found her is because she’s still alive,” he says. 

I swallow. Take a deep breath. “You can’t know for sure.”

“She’s smart, Ella,” he continues. “A fighter like you. Give her some credit.”

I drop my face between my palms. Then, a memory comes back to me.

“She told me,” I say.

“What?” Aaron asks. 

“My mother, before the execution. She told me I wouldn’t remember. It didn’t make sense then but I didn’t think much of it. I was more worried about other things.”

“She was planning to erase your memories,” Castle says.

I nod. 

“Why would she do that? Why make you go through that and then make you forget it?”

“To make me compliant,” I say. “She knew I would never cooperate again after killing Aaron. I guess she just wanted to make me suffer for a while, then erase everything and pretend nothing happened. Or just make me forget about Aaron and I. Pretend we never existed, were never together,  _ I don’t know.  _ I stopped understanding her motives years ago.” 

Castle takes another inquisitive look at us both. Sighs. 

“You two have been through a lot today. I think you should go rest.” 

“I think we should—” Aaron says. 

“Please,” Castle interrupts him. “We’re going to have to act soon, so take this moment now that you have it. Who knows when there will be another chance to catch your breath.” 

“Thank you,” I say, meaning it. Even though I will most definitely not be able to rest any time soon, I appreciate the gesture. 

“I’ve talked to the twins, you’ve met them,” Castle says signaling towards us. “They are happy to have you in their quarters, Miss Sommers.”

“That’s kind of them,” I whisper.

“As for you, Mr. Warner,” he continues, “I’m afraid we don’t have any space available in the men’s guard, so you’ll have to stay in the holding rooms, but please be aware that you are not being...well,  _ held.” _

He nods, his gaze somewhere in the distance. “I enjoy the privacy better anyway.” 

“You can both retire to your room for now, Mr. Warner. I assume you have some talking to do.”

“Yes,” I say, “Thank you again, Mr. Castle. For everything.”

“It’s nothing, Miss Sommers. Your help is deeply appreciated. I know the rest don’t see that yet, but I’m thankful that you’re both here. I think we can accomplish great things together.”

“But first we breathe,” I say

He nods. “But first we breathe.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm thinking about maybe writing a little Christmas office party AU before the next chapter of this??? I just want to write something fun after all of this sad stuff, let me know if that's something you'd like to see!


	24. Chapter 24

**AARON**

The door to my sad excuse of a room closes behind us. I don’t bother turning on the light, letting the room be illuminated by the faint light leaking under the door.

Ella immediately collapses into the bed, burying her head under the flimsy pillow. I walk towards the sink and wash my hands—even though they are clean—and splash some water in my face. It does nothing to alleviate the discomfort I’ve been feeling for the last few days. One that I have yet to process.

I should be happy. I should be  _ relieved _ . And in some way I am, but I can still feel the hollow of my father’s absence in my chest. It is nothing compared to what I felt when I lost my mother, but his death is still a constant humming in the back of my brain that I can’t ignore.

_ I am an orphan now.  _

The woman I tried so hard to save. The man that made me into what I am. Gone. 

The sheets ruffle lightly behind me making me turn around. Ella is sitting up on the bed looking at me.

“Aaron?” she asks, her voice so small that is slips in between my skin and breaks my bones in half. 

I walk up to where she is and sit next to her on the bed. “What is it, love? Do you feel alright?”

Her eyes, bright and big, find mine through the darkness of the room. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

I nod and say: “I’m fine.”

Her fingers touch mine lightly. “You’ve been...strange. Distant,” she whispers.

I flip my hand over, taking her hand in mine. “There’s just a lot going on,” I sigh.

She nods, her eyes suddenly filling up with tears. My throat and heart clench at the sight of it. “Are you mad at me?” she asks. “Cause I would understand if you were. It would be fine.” 

I bring my hands to her face and wipe away the tears that are making their way over her cheeks. 

“Why would I be mad at you sweetheart?”

She shrugs and says: “For killing your dad.” 

Her guilt comes crashing down over me like a wave. “God, Ella, no,” I rush out. “I could never be mad at you. Have you been thinking I was mad at you this whole time?”

She shakes her head. “No,” she says, “but we’ve barely talked lately and I… I didn’t even think,” she stops, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I’ve been so wrapped up in everything else that I didn’t even stop to think that you could be upset about your dad until now. I’ve been so inconsiderate about your feelings and I—”

“Stop,” I interrupt her. “You have been nothing but considerate, love, and even if you hadn’t been, you would be in the right to so. I never intended to make you feel guilty, love. Never.”

“I know,” she says. “I’m sorry, I just—”

“I know, love,” I whisper into her hair. “I know.”

She crawls over me and I hug her tight as she tucks her head in the crook of my shoulder. I get goosebumps at the feeling of her warm breath against my neck. I press a kiss to her temple and whisper: “You could put a bullet through my chest and I still wouldn’t be mad at you, love.”

“I would never do that,” she whispers back.

I chuckle. “I know.”

I reposition us both so we’re lying side-by-side on the bed. It feels good to be with her like this again. We hadn’t had a moment alone since everything we got here, and being unable to hold her like this was adding more stress to my being.

The feel of her skin against mine makes it feel like there’s blood coursing through my veins again. But more than of the physical level, being near her, knowing that she is here if I need her; her knowing that I’m here for her too, brings me a peace that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else.

“I know he was a monster,” she says, “but it’s okay if you grieve.”

I wish I could respond to that, but instead, I just press a kiss to her forehead and pull her closer to me. 

The minutes pass and her breathing becomes even. The rise and fall of her chest slower and deeper than it was before. I listen closely to the beats of her heart, steady like the rest of her, and slowly let it lull me to sleep. 

***

I wake up sometime after with Ella still on my arms. I watch her sleep for a few minutes until she stirs awake, her eyes fluttering open.

She yawns, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

“How long did we sleep?” she asks.

“I don’t know,” I say. “Probably no longer than an hour.”

She sighs and readjusts herself next to me. 

“Has anyone come to check if we’re planning their murder?” 

“Not yet,” I say with an amused laugh. 

She turns to look at me. Then her mood changes. 

“Oh,” she says. “We still have time then.” 

And then crashes her lips against mine.

I’m too startled—and frankly too delighted—to push her away. I let myself sink into it. Push her back until her body is pressed up against the mattress under my weight. She sighs against my lips, running her hands through my hair. My hands are halfway down her body when I remember our unfortunate situation.

“Ella,” I say breaking away from her. “We shouldn’t—”

“Why?” she asks pouting her mouth innocently.

“Really?”

Shrugs.

“Anyone could come at any moment,” I say. “And I don’t know about you, but I would not like to deal with them if they do.”

“They’re civilized,” she says. “They’ll knock.”

Before I can protest, she sneaks her lithe fingers under my shirt. And then she lets her power go.

I’ve grown used to the constant hum of electricity that I feel when she touches me. When I was barely a boy I thought that feeling just came from touching someone you loved. I later came to realize that what I was it was, in fact, her powers. I wonder what she would say if she knew of my previous theory.

But what I feel right now is nothing compared to that. She is almost always holding her power back. Even with me; even if she can’t hurt me.

Oh but not she is letting it all go. 

My whole body tenses up at the feeling. Waves of electricity are coursing through my veins. It’s the most exhilarating sensation I’ve ever felt. There’s nothing like it. It goes far beyond the physical aspect, for I feel everything she’s feeling. Her love, her longing, her pleasure and desire. I feel it all. It’s so much I think I might die from it. Bodies were not meant to feel this much. Hearts are not supposed to hold so much inside of them. 

And yet here she lies. Defying everything I ever knew and believed once again.

She knows what it—what  _ she _ —does to me. Even in the faint lighting of the room, I can see her eyes twinkle with mischief. 

I lower myself, so close that my lips brush against her when I speak. “You’re not playing fair,” I say, my voice shaking helplessly.

She closes her eyes, presses a soft kiss against the pulse in my throat. “Please,” she whispers. Her voice is a small, wistful sound that makes my breathing stop. “I just need something good. I promise I’ll behave tomorrow.”

And I give in to her. I always do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! sorry for disappearing for 2 months, school am I right?   
> This chapter was a little shorter than I wanted it to be, but I really just wanted to post something after being gone for so long. Hopefully I'll have time again soon to write another chapter.  
> Also, last time I was here we were at like 400 hits, so thank you all for the support on this fic, really means the world to me.  
> ALSO, I had an idea for another AU,,,not saying much right now because it's still cooking in my head, but if you have seen The Proposal then you can imagine what's coming.   
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter and leave a comment / kudos if you did!!


	25. Chapter 25

**ELLA**

Castle calls us back to his office the next morning. He’s talking to Kenji when he turns to greet us; Kenji just winks at me from behind him. I catch Aaron rolling his eyes at it. I take a seat by Castle’s desks, and only when I get this close to him I realize how tired he looks. He probably didn’t sleep at all last night. 

To be fair, I probably don’t look so good either. Aaron and I had a brief, peaceful moment together before someone came banging on our door to let us know that dinner was soon and that we “better get our asses out there.” After another tense meal among the residents of Omega Point, we retired for the night, Aaron to his room, and I with my new roommates: Sara and Sonya. They were nice to me, but I doubt they have the ability to be unkind to anyone. I couldn’t sleep much after I found a new set of clothes and a pair of black elbow-length gloves waiting for me on my bed, which I am wearing now. No one directly told me to wear them, but I got the message, and I would rather avoid further conflict. 

“We’ve got a situation,” Castle says.

“Oh God, what now?” I ask, already bracing myself.

“There’s talk about a new Commander for Sector 45 being placed soon,” he says. “As well for a new Supreme.”

_ Oh. Well, that was not as bad as I thought. _

“That took them longer than I thought,” Aaron says. “It was to be expected. Why is this news?”

Castle shakes his head. “Not news exactly,” he says. “We new to act. Soon. This is the chance we’ve been waiting for and we—”

_ “No,”  _ Aaron and I interrupt at the same time.

“No?” Castle asks. “The Reestablishment is unstable right now. If we give them time to recover and bury everything that happened we might not get another chance to fight back.”

“You are not ready,” Aaron says. “Your soldiers are not ready.”

“Mr. Warner, with all due respect, we’ve been preparing for this moment for years—”

“You don’t know them like we do,” I say. “They will not hesitate to kill you all. They will sacrifice as many men as they need to incinerate your movement. We’re disposable to them, I’m sure you know. Besides,” I say looking around the room, “what’s the plan? Kill the Supreme? We did that already and it didn’t help much.”

He pauses and looks at me for a moment, then he asks, “Then what do you suggest we do?”

Aaron looks at me expectantly, and at this moment I wish he believed in me a little less because I  _ don’t  _ have a plan. I swallow and trust my instincts. “First,” I say. “We get more people. We have a lot here and many with helpful abilities, but it doesn’t matter how fast they can run or how hard they can punch of they outnumber us one thousand to one. Which they probably do right now.”

“And where would we get these men?”

“Sector 45 could be a good place to start.”

“Soldiers of Sector 45?”

I nod. “Yes?”

H exhales. “How do we convince them to fight with us? I don’t think they trust either of you too much,” he says pointing at both of us. 

“We killed the common enemy,” I say. “That must be worth something.”

“She’s right, sir,” Kenji says, speaking for the first time. 

Castle turns to look at him.

“I mean,” he continues. “She’s right about our lack of preparation. We’re good and all, but they have guns. Big ones. And bombs, too. And I don’t want to get the shit blown out of me. And yes, there’s some... _ animosity  _ towards Warner,” he says, giving him a salute with two fingers, “but I think it’s safe to say that things might have changed now. Even with the whole memory whipping thing that is happening. If they make a comeback now it would be a clear act of defiance against the Reestablishment. Maybe people would follow,” he says. “I would.”

“We don’t win wars with ‘maybes’,” Castle says.

“I think ‘maybe’ is the best we have right now,” Aaron says.

Castle slumps back into his chair. “We’ll talk more about this tomorrow. I have some things to think about.”

I’m already getting up from my chair when Castle says: “In the meantime, there’s another thing I wanted to ask you, Mr. Warner.”

“Yes?” Aaron asks.

“What exactly, if you know, is your ability?”

The question catches me off-guard, and from the looks of it, it does Aaron too.

“Some sort of immunity, we think.”

“But you weren’t  _ immune _ to Kenji,” he continues. “Only to Miss Sommers.”

Aaron thinks about it for a second, then: “Could be an instinctual reaction,” he says. “Becoming invisible is not threatening to my well-being like Ella’s touch could be.”

“So you don’t feel anything? Nothing at all?”

Aaron clears his throat. “Not nothing,” he says. “It feels like...I can feel her power going through me, but it doesn’t affect me.”

“And did you feel anything similar when Kenji made you invisible?”

“If I recall correctly I was unconscious at the time.”

“Right,” Castle says. “My apologies.” He then turns back towards me and asks, “And what about you Miss Sommers? What do you feel?” 

I shrink reflexively, these are the kind of questions my mother used to ask when my ability first surfaced. I feel like I’m being tested, and I’m afraid I might fail. 

_ He’s not your mother,  _ I say to myself.  _ He’s trying to help. _

“Umm, usually when I touch people it feels like I’m taking something from them,” I say, my mouth dry. I don’t particularly enjoy talking about how it feels to torture—to  _ kill— _ people. I force myself to continue. “When I touch him...it feels like  _ he’s _ taking something. Like absorbing it? I don’t really know how to explain it.” 

Aaron looks at me. “I didn’t know that,” he says not in an accusatory tone, just a curious one. 

I shrug in response. “Never really came up.”

Castle rubs his chin. “Interesting. Very interesting.”

“Do you not think it’s immunity?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “No, I don’t think it is. Have you never tried to do anything with your power, Mr. Warner?”

“I was busier trying to not let anyone find out I had one at all.”

“I understand,” he says. “I would like to look into it further, if that is okay with you.”

He looks at Aaron, waiting for an answer to a question he didn’t ask. Aaron just nods his head once.

“Excellent. You all can go now, I will call you back if anything else comes up.”

We stand up and walk towards the door. Before leaving I turn around and ask: “Nothing on Emmaline?”

He shakes his head. “No, Miss Sommers, I’m sorry.”

And even though I expected it, though I rationally knew that if he did know something he would’ve told me already, I’m still disappointed. The too-familiar lump in my throat comes back and I try my hardest to speak without breaking. “It’s okay,” I say, even though I’m far from believing it myself. “Thank you.”

I turn back to the hallway where Aaron is waiting for me, looking at me with an apology in his eyes. He stretches his hand towards me, and together, hand in gloved-hand, we walk away. 

***

That night, long after Sara and Sonya have fallen asleep, I sneak out of my room and make my way towards Aaron. Even though the lights on our rooms go off, the hallways remain mostly illuminated after hours. The guards here are, disappointingly, even more predictable than Reestablishment guards, so avoiding them is not an issue. I had no plans of sneaking out tonight, but my mind has been running since breakfast and Aaron is the only one I feel comfortable sharing this with.

Because he is still technically in a holding room, his door locks from the outside. So instead of knocking and calling attention to myself out here I open the door without notice and slip inside.

“Ella?” his voice calls from the darkness of the room.

I walk over to him, my eyes adjusting the darkness. Little by little, I can distinguish his shape from the mass of blackness around him. I sit down next to him when I reach him, his hands immediately cupping my cheek. “Is everything okay, love?” Aaron asks. “You feel distraught.”

I shake my head. “I’ve just been thinking about Emma the whole day.”

“Ella—”

“No, wait,” I say, taking his hands in mine. “I think I might know where she is.”

He looks at me expectantly and says: “I’m listening.”

I take a deep breath and start from where my own idea started. “So, she ‘disappeared’ right? It must’ve been someone else with abilities, someone like Kenji who can go and make others invisible, or teleport or I don’t know,  _ something. _ ” I wait for him to comment, but he doesn’t so I continue. “And that someone, if they had an ability, they probably would’ve had a network,  _ someone _ from  _ someplace _ like Omega Point, but there being  _ another  _ resistance that we know nothing of is highly unlikely. That leads me to believe that it wasn’t just  _ someone _ , it was someone she  _ knows. _ ”

“Okay.”

“And not only someone she knows, someone she trusts. She wouldn’t just go with anyone if her life depended on it. Not without any resistance.”

“And how many people were there that she trusts?” he asks, his mind already going the same place mine went. 

“I can only think of one.”

“Nazeera.”

I nod. “I know this might be wishful thinking,” I say. “But I’ve been running circles around this all day, I’ve thought of every other possibility. Nothing else makes sense.” 

He leans back against the wall. “There’s always been something off about her,” he says.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“I can never seem to read her. Like her mind is going from one place to another too fast for me to follow. Like a hummingbird moving its wings so fast you only see a blur.”

“What do you think that means?”

“I don’t know,” he says with a shrug. “But I think you might be right. I wonder how she’s gotten away with no one noticing for so long.”

“You did too,” I say, a small smile creeping into my face despite everything.

“Well, yes, but mine’s more subtle than suddenly disappearing.”

“Whatever,” I say as I lie down on his lap looking up at him. “I just hope that she’s safe.” 

Without saying a word, he wraps his fingers around the strands of my hair.

“Do you think Castle is right about you?”

Instead of responding, he takes his hand from my hair and starts to run his finger along the center of my face, down my forehead, my nose, around my mouth and back up. He then follows that same path with his mouth. I bite his bottom lip when he kisses me. “Stop avoiding the question.”

“I don’t know,” he says, kissing me again. “But I think it’s worth investigating.”

I stop him from leaning in again. “You don’t think he’s going to hurt you, right?” 

I trust Castle, I really do. But I don’t know his methods. The only methods I know are my parents’. And if anyone here puts a hand on him like that I will knock this place to the ground. Reestablishment and resistance be damned. 

He shakes his head and says: “I didn’t get any malicious intentions from him. I think he’s just curious. And he’s probably trying to see if it’s something we can use in our favor.” 

“I’m just afraid they’re going to—“

“Yes, love, I know,” he murmurs, his voice low and reassuring. “It’ll all be okay.” 

I nod and sit up straight. Without any real intention, I say, “I should go before the twins notice I’m gone.”

“Stay,” he says against my hair. 

_ Convince me,  _ I think. “Really, I should go,” I say.

“Just a minute more.”

This time it’s me who kisses him. “I just think it’s funny how it was  _ I  _ who had to do all the convincing yesterday and now it’s you who’s  _ begging  _ me to stay,” I say playfully.

“Maybe I just realized how lucky I actually am to have you this close after years of seeing you every few months and I don’t want to waste any second,” he responds in a more serious tone, but his eyes carry a lightness that betrays him.

“You’ll get more seconds tomorrow,” I say pressing a final kiss to his lips before I slip back out of the room and into the maze of hallways beyond. 

*** 

I notice Kenji’s absence first. For the last few days, his presence has been a constant one around Omega Point. He’s maybe the only person here to talk to me, even when he doesn’t need to. So when I walk into the dining hall, it is hard to not notice that he is not here. Especially because I have never seen him miss any meals, and he’s always here before anyone else. Aaron isn’t here either, but I got up earlier than usual, so he might be on his way still.

I sit down on our usual table, which is mostly empty with only Brendan and Winston in it. “Good morning,” I say. Winston responds by lifting his half-empty cup of coffee at me. The lack of emotion behind the gesture doesn’t escape me. 

“Don’t mind him,” says Brendan. “He’s grumpy because he didn’t get sleep last night.”

“Well, you’d be grumpy too if not for the fact that you can magically recharge yourself.”

It’s then that I realize that I’ve been here for days and I still don’t know what their abilities are. “Oh, umm,” I say, interrupting their bickering. “So, what can you do?”

“I thought Castle briefed you on all of this,” Brendan says surprised.

“I mean, he told me that you have abilities, just not which one,” I say, after a moment I add, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to it’s—”

He laughs a little, “No, look,” he says putting his palms up between us. He wiggles his finger a little, with each tiny movement, a little spark of electricity appears from thin air popping around his hands. He smiles at the small gasp that escapes my lips.

“Electricity?” I ask.

“Yeah,” Winston answers for him. “Which means he can fry you up  _ and  _ that he has an unlimited amount of energy. The rest of us mere mortals still need this,” he says, shaking his coffee cup again. 

“And what can you do?”

He looks at me as he puts his mug down, then wraps his arms around him. Twice.

“Oh!” I say. 

Winston shrugs, looking slightly embarrassed. “It’s not much,” he says.

“I...does it hurt?” I ask. 

“No,” he says. “It’s just lame.”

“I think it’s cool. You could always be stuck with mine,” I say, effectively killing the conversation. 

We sit in silence for a while, with each minute that passes and Aaron doesn’t show up I get more and more anxious. “Do you guys know where Aaron or Kenji are?”

“Warner?” Brendan asks. “I think Castle called him to the lab earlier, he might still be there.”

“Lab?”

“Down the hallway and downstairs,” he says. pointing at one of the side exits. 

I nod in thanks as I get up and walk in the direction that he pointed in.

***

Kenji and Adam are standing next to each other arms crossed, to busy to notice that I walked in.

“Are you sure, man?” Kenji asks, looking through a window to another room that I can’t see.

“Yes,” Adam says. “He looks just like him.”

“Look just like who?” I ask, making them both jump at the sound of my voice. Then I get a look at what they’re seeing. And my body goes numb.

Aaron attached to a machine, wires connecting to his arms and his head and monitors beeping all around him

I can hear the beeping deep in my brain

And suddenly I can’t breathe and I feel a hand of my shoulder and I think I say “Get him out of there,” but I don’t know if anyone can hear me.

And then the ground starts to shake.

My vision blurs and my heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest and there’s a sudden rush of energy that’s going out of me and I can’t stop it.

Something

someone knocks me down to the ground

and the world fades away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this chapter is suuuper long (or at least longer than the rest) so you will all have to forgive me if I disappear for another two months.  
> hope you enjoyed, leave a comment/kudos if you did!


	26. Chapter 26

**AARON**

I feel her before I see her. 

A sharp panic seizes my body making my breath catch in my throat. I turn to the window to see Ella being knocked down by Kishimoto. I’m up so fast my head spins. It takes barely a second for me to rip off the sensors attached to my body, walk across the room and into the hallway, and take Kishimoto by the neck. 

“Get your hands off her,” I grit through my teeth as I throw him away from Ella who lies unconscious on the floor. 

I kneel next to her, cradling her face between my hands. I tap the side of her face trying to wake her up. “Ella?” I whisper. “Wake up.”

Her chest is rising and falling slowly, but as much as I shake her, her eyes remain closed. 

A white, scorching fury sends shock waves through my body. “What did you do to her?” I ask, barely able to contain the anger in my voice.

“What did  _ we  _ do?” asks Kishimoto, still sitting on the ground clutching his chest. “Your girlfriend just caused a fucking earthquake!”

Castle comes out from the lab looking shaken. “Someone care to explain what just happened?” he asks out of breath.

Kishimoto tries to speak but only sputters and half-sentences come out of his mouth. Castle holds his hand up, motioning to him to stop. “Adam?” he asks.

“I’m not sure, sir,” he says clearing his throat. His eyes are wide with shock, and only now I realize that there’s blood running down his face. “She came down here and then just lost it. The ground started shaking, we tried to calm her down but she punched me.” He takes his hand up to his face and tries to wipe the blood on his mouth. He winces. “God,” he bites out. “I think she broke my nose.”

_ Good,  _ I think. 

“I had to shut her off,” Adam continues. “She—she made the entire building move.”

Castle calls for the twins. “Please, take Adam and Miss Sommers to the infirmary.”

The twins, who stay just inside the lab look at each other, hesitant to speak. “How are we to tend to her, sir?” one of them asks. “We can’t touch her.”

Castle pinches the bridge of his nose. “Right. Then, Mr. Warner, please help me carry her to the infirmary. We’ll talk on the way.”

***

I’m forcibly removed from Ella’s side after laying her down on a hospital bed. The twins assure me that what she’s experiencing is simply overexertion. Her body is not used to using that amount of power. Her body is not used to using  _ that  _ power. It drained all of the energy out of her body. She only needs to rest.

What she did back at the lab was not only unexpected but outstanding. After I picked her up I noticed how the concrete under her was broken.  _ She split the ground open.  _ I look at her tiny frame lying on a sterilized sheet in amazement one last time. She never ceases to surprise me. 

I turn around to Castle who waits for me with his never-ending patience. He gestures towards the door and I follow him. He tries to keep a calm exterior but I can feel a hint of anger under his skin.

Once outside he says, “I’m starting to think that keeping you both here is giving me more trouble than it’s worth.”

_ You can just let us go, then,  _ I think.

“She didn’t mean to do that,” I say instead.

“She didn’t mean to injure one of my men, cause an earthquake, and almost kill us all?”

_ That’s dramatic,  _ I think.

“No,” I say.

“Then please explain what is she was trying to accomplish.”

I exhale. “She wasn’t trying to accomplish anything. She was afraid.”

“Afraid.”

It is not a question, but I nod anyway. “Yes. I felt it. I felt her fear when she saw me. I should have known. I didn’t have time to explain to her what was happening this morning, and I didn’t think she would show up down here either,” I say trying to make sense out of her behavior to him. “She has a very complicated past, Mr. Castle. One I don’t expect you or anyone here to understand. But I suspect seeing me like that brought some very unpleasant memories into her mind, it triggered that response in self-defense.”

“You suspect?”

“I don’t presume to know everything that goes on in her mind, but my suspicions are almost always correct.”

He looks around at nothing in particular and then says, “I want to trust you both, Mr. Warner, but I cannot have her tearing things down when she is presented with an inconvenience.”

I want to yell at him for that. It wasn’t  _ just _ an inconvenience. She was terrified for her life and mine. But as I said, I do not expect him to understand what she’s been through. So, rather than get ourselves into more trouble, I stay silent, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in my chest from not defending her. “I won’t happen again,” I say.

“That’s nice of you to say, but I’ll need more than just words,” he says standing up. “She will begin training with you as well.”

“Training?” I ask.

“Yes,” he says. “She needs to get her power under control before she gets herself or others hurt. And I believe that, once she harnesses it, it can be of great help for our cause.”

The cause. Of course.

“Perhaps you should go eat something, Mr. Warner.”

I shake my head. “I appreciate the concern, but I’ll stay here.”

“She’ll probably be unconscious for a few hours, there’s nothing you can do here.”

“I’ll stay here,” I repeat.

“Suit yourself,” he says. “I’ll come back in a few hours to check on you both. I would like to have a word with her when she wakes up.”

***

The quietness of the room frightens me. The longer I sit here alone watching Ella sleep — her eyes moving slightly under her eyelids, the steady rise and fall of her chest — the more anxious I become.

I’ve been here for hours now, my muscles have turned stiff from the lack of movement. The twins tended to Kent—who keep looking at me as if he could find answers to whatever question he had written on my skin—and his broken nose. He left swiftly after that. The hatred that I felt coming from him is now replaced with fear laced with a strange curiosity. 

The twins left a couple of hours after he did. They were hesitant to leave me here alone, but I insisted that they shouldn’t miss dinner, seeing that they had already missed breakfast. I went back to staring and thinking after they left. Staring and thinking. Staring at Ella’s debilitated form on the hospital bed. Thinking—even if very much irrational—about how she might not wake up. Thinking about everyone I am to kill if she doesn’t. A quiet kind of fury has invaded my body from the moment I saw Ella on the ground while Kishimoto tried to hold her down before she went under. I imagined snapping his neck in that moment. I imagined what I would feel to have his bones break under my hands. The only thing stopping me was the fact that I’ve felt Ella take a liking on this clown. She would perhaps be mad if she woke up to the news of his passing. 

My plans of murder are interrupted with Castle coming into the room. 

He takes a seat on the chair on the other side of her bed. “The girls said her vitals were stable,” he says as if that were news to me. “She might be unconscious for a while, though.” He goes quiet for a while, and then, “I remember the first time I used my power. I fainted after throwing a piece of furniture across the room. Though it might’ve been from shock rather than exhaustion.”

I don’t exactly know what he expects me to respond to that. Maybe he wants me to share an equally unamusing story about me using my abilities, but in full earnest I would rather not. Instead, I look back down at Ella. Castle is about to speak again when her mouth opens and releases the smallest of whimpers. 

I shoot up from my chair, cradling her face in my hand. “Ella, love,” I say sounding breathless. “Are you okay?”

Her eyes open unfocused. I see her irises retract as her eyes adjust to the light. “Aaron?” she asks, her voice hoarse. 

“Yes, love, it’s me. I’m right here.”

“Are you alright?” she asks, trying to sit up. 

I stare at her dumbfounded. She’s sitting in a hospital bed after being unconscious for hours, yet she’s asking me if  _ I’m  _ okay. And I can feel her concern, her overwhelming love. It paralyzes me. It’s the only thing that makes me able to move.

Castle clears his throat.

Ella’s head snaps in his direction. “What—what happened?” she asks, putting her hand up and flexing her fingers. “My hand hurts.”

Castle looks expectantly at me, waiting for me to answer. 

“You caused an earthquake, love,” I say. 

Her mouth falls open, then closes again, then, “How?” 

“I was hoping you would tell us, Miss Sommers” Castle adds. 

Ella shakes her head. “I don’t—I don’t know.”

“Have you ever done something like this before?” he asks.

“I think if I had accidentally created a natural disaster before people would've known,” she says, her drowsiness and confusion replaced with irritation. 

Castle shakes his head, then says “What I meant to ask is if you have ever... _ displayed  _ such strength before. Anything out of the ordinary, something unrelated to your...other ability.”

“I don’t—” Ella says before going quiet. Her brow furrows, something like realization settling down on her. 

“I’ll take that as a maybe,” Castle says after a few seconds of silence. “Miss Sommers, I need you to know that while I know that what happened was an accident something like this cannot happen again. I just went through hours of damage control with the other members of Omega Point. They were already hesitant—to put it lightly—about having you here, and this is not helping your case.”

“I know, I’m sorry—”

“You will begin training to harness and control this ability of yours, I had to promise that to everyone to get them under control.”

I can feel Ella lock herself shut at that. I put a hand to her back tapping  _ It’ll be okay _ . She turns to look at me, gives me an almost imperceptible nod. 

“What about my hand?” she asks changing the subject.

“Pardon me?” 

“It hurts,” she explains. 

“You broke Kent’s nose,” I say, trying not to sound too proud. 

“Great,” she exhales. “Not like he hates me already.”

“Mr. Kent will be okay,” Castle says. “I will go get the twins so they can check up on you.”

“Okay,” Ella whispers. 

Before he exits the room he turns back and says, “I know I may seem harsh, but I’m trying to protect everyone, including you both. I  _ am _ glad you are here after all.”

I can’t help but laugh at that. “Don’t worry, Mr. Castle,” I say. “We’ve well acquainted with harsh. This is more of a vacation to us.”

“Right,” he says turning around as he walks out of the room, leaving Ella and me behind. 

**ELLA**

The twins couldn’t do too much with me. They gave me a couple of pills for the pain in my hand and the one blooming at the back of my leg. 

“You should just go back to the room and get some sleep,” Sara said, and then Sonya added, “We’ll stay here tonight...we have some work to do, so don’t wait up for us,” which really means  _ do whatever you want and we won't snitch on you.  _

I give them a small smile and nod, which really means  _ thank you. _

I take Aaron’s hand as I get up from the hospital bed. He takes mine back with a little bit more force than usual. He’s still anxious and angry after this whole deal. And to be honest, I am too, but as always, I have a tendency to worry about his anxieties more than I do about my own. He helps me steady myself as I get on my feet and keeps a hand on my lower back almost the whole way back to my room. I was about to remark on it when a voice calls me from behind us just as we approach my door.

“Hey, Ella!” Kenji yells as he runs down the hallway.

I turn towards him as I hear Aaron take a deep breath. 

“Don’t start,” I mutter low enough that only he can hear, and then “Hey, Kenji,” a little bit louder. 

His eyes shift between the two of us. “Sorry,” he says. “I just wanted to talk to you for a little.”

“Why don’t you go ahead?” I ask Aaron, who's looking at me completely unamused. “I’ll be there in a moment, okay?”

He nods after a few unblinking seconds. I wait for him to go inside the room and close the door behind him.

“Your boyfriend terrifies me,” Kenji says.

I suppress a laugh. “He’s really not that bad.”

“I thought he was going to kill me earlier.”

“He wouldn’t—” I start saying, but stop upon the realization that he might’ve, in fact, killed him.

“Yeah,” Kenji says pointing at me, a big grin on his face, “See? You hesitated.”

I shake my head. “Well you’re still here, aren’t you? Anyways, what do you want?”

“Oh,” he says, his face falling again. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I was just trying to—”

I put my hands up to stop him. “No, listen,  _ I’m  _ the one that should be sorry. And I _ am _ sorry. I didn’t mean to pull that stunt on you guys, I just...well to be quite honest I’m not sure what even happened.”

“Yeah, Castle told me something like that. He also told me that I was going to start training you. You know, to gain control of your power.”

“Oh!” I say, unable to hold back my surprise. “You’re going to train me?”

“Hey,” he says smiling again. “I’m a  _ wonderful  _ teacher. Also, I’m the only one around here he doesn’t want to kill you right now...I’m kidding, of course.”

“Right,” I say narrowing my eyes. “Did you eat something by the way?” I ask remembering his absence at breakfast. 

He seems confused by the question.

“I mean, I didn’t see you at breakfast and you’re usually the first one there, so I just hope that you didn’t skip any meals today because of me.”

He releases a small laugh. “Don’t worry, princess. I ate.” 

I nod. “Okay, then. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then. And I mean it, I am sorry.”

“I know. It wasn’t your fault.” he says, and then, “ Good night, princess.” 

“Good night, Kenji.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy fucking shit guys?????  
> Sorry i was gone so long again, but well, so much happened since the last time I was here. I basically got kicked out of school along with the rest of the world and had to finish the semester online. Also I'm also working remotely now which is always fun. I hope that things wherever you all are are getting better. I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy and that if you're an essential worker right now that they're at least paying you right for it.   
> Also on an unrelated note, thank you for one thousand hits??? I honestly never thought this would get to that point but I'm really thankful for every single one of you (even if only a very small part of those one thousand are active readers). I've been reading your comments all through quarantine and they never fail to put a smile on my face. I wrote this to entertain myself and others so I'm happy you guys are enjoying it.   
> Sorry this chapter was kinda short/filler-ish but I've been gone for so long I just wanted to put something out there. Hopefully next chapter will be more plot heavy and not three months from now.   
> Anyway, let me know how you guys are!! or if you're enjoying this!! what you think is going to happen!! anything!!  
> love you all xo


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